by Judith Post
"If Ulrich hadn't come to rescue me, Gunther might still be alive."
"If Amado had paired up like he should have, you wouldn't have needed help," Nula shot back.
"Too many rogues attacked you, all at once," Amado said.
With a scowl, Nula twirled her shepherd's crook. "Elijah and I are generals. We've fought more."
Bart took charge. "The battle's over. We made the best decisions we could at the time. Gather up the bodies. We need to get rid of them. Each vampire grab a few hunters at a time and drop them somewhere. Scatter them in different spots."
The mood had changed. Everyone was ready to move on. By the time dawn approached, the yard was clean. No one would ever know that a battle was waged there during the night.
Chapter 41
It was mid-morning before Danny made the call. "You must have had one hell of a night." Doc was going to have more bodies than he had places to put them.
"We lost Gunther."
The image of a giant, blond monster loomed in his mind. "The vampire who wanted to rip me apart in the alley?"
"That one."
"He looked indestructible to me." And scary.
"It took four rogue vampires and two hunters," Enoch said.
Danny was silent while he took that in. Enoch had told him that he was going to help good vampires battle bad ones, but he hadn't realized the scale of their war. "You know, this is getting too big to sweep under the carpet. I'd feel better if I could tell Tony what's really going on." His super was going to be scrambling for answers, and people would be pressuring him on all sides.
Enoch was silent a moment. "I came here to be anonymous."
"I know."
"Then I told you."
"We started finding drained bodies, remember?" Because Danny sure did.
"Then I had to tell Derek and Maggie."
"Vampires attacked them. You didn't really have a choice."
"Then we told Doc."
"He started to ask questions after we took in a baggie of what was left of Donato. After today, he'd ask more."
"Now you want me to tell Tony."
Danny sighed. "You don't have to, but if he doesn't have answers, he'll start digging. He'll dig until he finds out what he needs to know. That means cops on the streets, nosing around, maybe showing up at the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Dead cops."
"Guys I work with."
Enoch was silent again, and Danny didn't press him. He listened to the dead air over his phone and waited. Finally, Enoch said, "The more people who know about me, the more chance it will leak out and I'll have to move on."
"It's your call, buddy. You've been here, done this before, but his daughter's involved, and bodies are showing up all over Three Rivers this morning. Reporters are throwing theories everywhere."
"I'm not disagreeing. I'm just saying that every time I get involved with mortals…"
"Like me," Danny reminded him.
"It gets complicated," Enoch finished. "And pretty soon, it's out of hand and I have to leave."
"Not in Three Rivers. Not this time." Not with Derek and Maggie, Doc and Tony. "You're telling people who won't talk, but you came here to save mortals, right? Good cops might die trying to figure out what's going on in this town."
There was another long pause. "Want me to come to the station then?"
"Thanks, pal." Danny let out a grateful breath. He'd felt guilty pressuring Enoch to tell Tony. He understood his friend's concern, but he'd been walking a fine line for a while now being loyal to Enoch and loyal to his friends at the station. And he was beginning to get worried that his silence might put his fellow cops in danger. "I can pick you up, if you want. I worked yesterday when I was scheduled to be off duty, so I get to leave early today. I'm at the lab right now. On my way back to the station." The state police lab was only a few minutes away from Enoch's house.
"I'll lock up and be waiting outside."
A terse reply. Enoch was none too happy about this. Danny didn't blame him. "See you in a few."
On the drive to the station, Danny said, "Wanna tell me about last night?" His friend didn't look like a happy victor. If anything, he seemed more worried than before.
"We had fireworks and then a war. It got ugly." Enoch didn't skimp on the details for Danny.
The sheer numbers of the battle caught Danny off guard. It had obviously surprised Enoch too. It was only a matter of luck that so many of the generals survived. Danny knew how much work Enoch did to protect them. No wonder he was running instant replays through his mind right now. "I don't quite get it," Danny said. "Even if these big three eliminate Bart and all of his generals, they still have you and Caleb to deal with, and with the generals gone, you'd think rogue vampires would start running around all over the place causing trouble. What do they hope to gain?"
"They're past reasoning with," Enoch told him. "At first, they just saw a way to needle Caleb, maybe snatch a little more power for themselves, but everything's escalated. Egos and reputations are on the line. Every time we defend ourselves against them, they dig in deeper and up the ante."
"Then they're stupid." Danny turned onto Creighton. "How far will they go? How many of their own vampires are they willing to lose?"
"More than I realized. Most of them are only beginners, though. And the big three don't care how many hunters die. Mortals are nothing to them."
"Yeah, we're chump change." Danny pulled into his parking spot behind the station. "You ready?"
"As ready as I can be." Enoch followed Danny into the hustle and bustle of the police station.
"It's about time you showed up," Derek teased as Danny passed his desk.
"I'm off today, so there won't be anyone to keep an eye on you. That's a scary thought." Danny knocked on Tony's door and got a gruff, "Make it fast."
Tony looked up as Danny and Enoch took seats across from him. "You got something?" he asked them.
"Look. We came here to level with you," Danny said. He glanced to make sure the door was closed. "I'm going to tell you some stuff, and you're not going to believe me, but I need to tell you anyway."
Tony leaned back in his chair. "Okay, shoot."
Danny carefully chose his words, explaining about Enoch and his gift and his special powers as a vampire hunter, but he could tell by the look on Tony's face that he wasn't buying any of it.
Tony waited for him to finish. "Did the guys send you in here to pull my chain? Did they think a good laugh would put me in a better mood?"
"No."
"You've been working too many hours. Time for a vacation. With your work load and your wedding coming up..."
"He's telling you the truth," Enoch said.
Anger flickered in Tony's eyes. "Sure he is. Now, if you two jokers are finished, there's the door. Don't let it hit you in the ass." How many times had Danny heard that?
"There's a war between vampires," Enoch told him. "Humans are taking sides."
Tony sighed. "Look, I like you. You've helped us out, but I have trouble buying into psychic mumbo jumbo. Now you're telling me you're an angel sent to fight vampires. I'm thinking you're just a plain, old-fashioned whacko and you're taking Danny into the Twilight Zone with you."
"I get that a lot. Let me prove I'm right." Enoch reached into the holster under Danny's jacket and took out his .38.
"What the hell?" Tony started to his feet. Danny stared.
Enoch put the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. Tony gripped the edge of his desk, eyes bulging, while Enoch removed the gun from his mouth and handed it back to Danny. There was no blood, no hole in the back of his head, no damage at all. Danny waited for Enoch to reach inside his mouth and remove the bullet. God, it surprised him every time. He knew Enoch hated the whole routine, felt like a cheap street act, but seeing is believing. And who could buy a story like his until he'd proved it to them? Even then, it felt surreal.
Tony's face went dark red. "What the hell gives you the right to walk into my
office and do some kind of stunt like that? What did you do? Switch guns with Danny? Your trick isn't funny. Get out of here."
Derek opened the door and glanced at the three of them. "A gun just went off."
"We know," Danny said. "Everything's fine."
Derek looked at Tony, then stared hard at Enoch, then shut the door behind him as he left.
"It's not a trick," Enoch said. "Here." He put his hand on Tony's desk. "Stab me through the hand."
"Are you nuts?"
"I'm a vampire hunter, have been for centuries. I can't die. I can't even be hurt."
"Take your…." Tony didn't get to finish. Danny reached across his desk, took his letter opener, and jabbed it through Enoch's hand. When he pulled it out, the skin closed behind it as if nothing had happened. Tony stared. Finally, he shook his head. "Go away. Just get out of here, both of you. Now."
"Let's go, bud." Danny grabbed Enoch's elbow and hurried him away. "Give him a minute." They went outside to Danny's Buick and Danny started the engine. "That went well."
"You think? I'm surprised Tony's not sending someone after us to lock us up."
"No one can buy vamps and angels the first time they hear about it," Danny said. "Hell, I still can't explain you, not even to myself. You're just a big gray area that I try not to think about."
Enoch looked out the side window. His expression said that he wasn't sure how to take that. "Where are we going?"
"To the mall. There's a shop there that specializes in all kinds of gifts—for weddings, business exchanges, all sorts of stuff. I need to buy a present for my best man since you wouldn't stand up with me."
"Who'd you get?"
"Derek. And I need smaller stuff for the ushers—my two brothers and Maggie's two brothers. What the hell do you get five guys that they'll all like?"
Enoch shrugged. "This is out of my realm of experience."
"I was thinking about pocket knives or wine bottle openers."
"Would they use them?"
"Probably not." Danny found a spot near the mall's entrance and parked.
"What about gift cards?"
"Now that's something everyone uses." Danny went to the main office for the mall and bought five gift cards that could be used in any of the stores.
"What about Maggie's maid of honors and bridesmaids?" Enoch asked.
"She's buying their presents. I wouldn't have a clue." They were walking back to the car when Danny's cell phone rang.
It was Tony. "We need to talk. My office. Now."
Danny didn't speed, but he didn't dawdle either. When he pulled into the station's lot, he parked next to Tony's Jeep Cherokee.
When they entered the room, Tony leaned across his desk to greet them. "Shut the door and sit down." He was all business. "Let's just pretend that you guys aren't crazy. How does that explain the dead bodies all over town? And how does that affect my daughter and this Gino guy?"
Danny and Enoch spent an hour catching Tony up on everything that had happened and on what was happening now. He sat, with his head down, eyes closed, listening to them. He never interrupted, never asked a question. Danny wondered if he'd fallen asleep or gone into shock. He was tempted to reach out and touch him to see if he moved, but he knew better.
When they finished, Tony raised his head and looked at them. The look was skeptical. It said that he'd let them talk themselves out, and he was worried about them. Not because vampires might get them. Because they were living in a fantasy world of their own making. He raised an eyebrow at Danny. "Let me get this straight. This Gino came to Three Rivers to track down a good vampire and kill him?"
"Right." Danny squirmed. Tony's voice was patronizing, as if he were interrogating a small child. "But Gino killed the guy in the office by mistake. He looked a lot like Keb."
"Keb?"
"A good vampire." Danny glanced to Enoch for help, but his friend only glowered back. He hadn't liked this idea in the first place. Thought that they should leave things alone. Hell, maybe he was right.
Tony patiently continued. "And now Gino's calling vampire hunters to town to kill a slew of good vampires that are staying at Enoch's house?"
Danny nodded, somber. "I should have told you all of this before, but the fewer people who know and are involved, the better."
"I can understand that." Tony's tone was dry. "So what makes you believe these people are really vampires?"
The crux of the matter. Danny had made some kind of leap in logic that Tony, a rational person, could believe. Well, how did he explain vamps? "The one that grabbed me sprouted fangs, could jump to the top of buildings, sprout wings, and fly."
Tony blinked. "You actually saw that…with your own eyes?"
"I'm just glad I'm still alive to talk about it." Danny explained about the vampires grabbing him to get to Enoch the last time they worked together.
Tony grew instantly serious. He turned to Enoch. "Give me your hand. Let me stab you this time with any weapon I choose."
Enoch's lips pulled down at the corners, but he held out his hand. Tony took a pocket knife from his pocket and slammed it through the bones and tendons. He twisted it while it was in there before removing it. Then he gaped as the skin sealed itself and his blade had no blood on it. "How do you do it?"
"It's not a trick. And I'm tired of trying to convince you. Danny wanted you to know what you're really up against. Either believe me or don't. I'm done." Enoch started to push himself from the chair.
"No, wait!" Tony rubbed his hand over his eyes. "It just seems…impossible, that's all. But something's going on. Something big. And you….you seem indestructible."
"I am. The vampires and hunters are here. If your men meet them, they'll be dead. They need to stay out of this. That's why Danny wanted to warn you."
Another thought struck Tony. "You didn't put my daughter in danger, did you?"
"She's with Gino. He tried to use her to get to me. If he gets desperate, he'll use anyone or anything. And that could be Kandice."
"That's another reason we came to you," Danny said. "You might want to get your daughter out of town."
Tony nodded. "I'll have Emma talk to her."
"Emma will listen to you?" Danny asked.
Tony's expression softened. "We've decided to give it another go, another try."
"That's great!" Danny beamed.
Tony shook his head. "I can't tell the press that vampires invaded our city to wage war. How do I explain all the dead bodies that are showing up everywhere?"
"A drug war," Enoch said. "Detroit's sending in dealers, and so is New York. They're trying to muscle into Three Rivers and they're fighting over who gets control."
Tony stared at him. "That's not half bad."
“It’s probably half truth.”
When they went their separate ways, Danny drove Enoch home. When he pulled under the portico, he said, "Thanks. I know this wasn't easy. Sorry about your hand."
Enoch grimaced and stalked inside the house. Danny watched him before he pulled away. It had to be a pain being a secret hero. Definitely overrated. His friend took a lot of shit trying to help people. He was glad Enoch had listened to him and talked to Tony, though. Not that it would make his own life any easier. His super was going to think of him as a whack job now. But when he opened the evening paper later that night and the headlines read, "Gang War. Drug lords battle over city," he decided it was worth it.
Chapter 42
Gino slammed down another drink at the hotel's bar. He couldn't believe what his job had come to. Two nights ago, the rogue vampire had come to his window again, and the vamp took his complaints a lot more seriously than Manny did. After listening carefully, the rogue said that it was time to talk to his bosses. Masters, he'd called them—and Gino thought Manny was bad. Thing was, the vamp wasn't a bad sort. How sad was that? He was beginning to feel chummy with a flying freak.
They'd decided to hit the generals with everything they had—rogues and hunters combined. A big enough number
for a mission to most small countries. The whole operation had gone down last night, but Gino hadn't heard a word. Nothing. Not one report from anybody. What the hell did that mean? He pointed to his empty glass and ordered another one. Flipping open his cell phone, he started to dial Manny's number, then hesitated. Screw Manny. Manny should have called him. He shut his phone and put it in his pocket. A few drinks later, while he could still walk, he pushed himself to his feet and headed to the elevator. There was nothing to do but wait. And he'd spent all day doing that.
An evening paper, sprawled on a coffee table in the hotel's lobby, caught his eye. Its headline blared, "Gang war. Drug lords battle over city." What the hell? Gino picked up the front page and scanned it. Dead bodies everywhere. Human bodies. He crumpled the paper and tossed it at a wall. Damn it! What the hell were they up against? Manny had sent him a small battalion and supposedly, the vamps had sent in their people too.
Gino punched in the number for his floor and paced in the cramped space of the elevator. He couldn't get a handle on this thing. Nothing was going right. Kandy wouldn't return his calls. She had to have some gossip from her dad, but that was a lost cause. He'd driven to her apartment, and her car was in the lot, but she didn't answer the door. A dead end, and he wasn't going to go snooping around with her dad the homicide honcho sniffing for a reason to haul him in.
When he reached his room, he threw himself onto his bed. He lay there, staring at the ceiling with his hands pressed to his head, trying to think. When he woke, it was dark and the tap, tap, tapping was back at his window. This time, he pulled back the drape and motioned to his newfound friend that he'd be down in a minute.
Outside, the vamp landed next to him, and they leaned against the building to talk. "So what happened?" Gino asked.
"They killed them, every single last one of them. Ragnar told me to stay far enough away to watch, nothing else, or he'd deal with me later. I'd have come to tell you last night, but the battle lasted too long, and it was starting to get light."
Gino let out a deep breath. "Level with me, will you? Who and what are we fighting?"