Murder in Vein

by Sue Ann Jaffarian

After Madison gave Ethan a consenting nod, he lifted the tape from the corners of her mouth, then yanked it fast the rest of the way. She let out a yelp as the tape took some of her skin, leaving behind a sharp, painful burn. She licked her lips and tasted blood.

  Ethan bent over Madison and lowered his face to hers. His tongue darted out and quickly caught a dribble of blood. "Mmmm," he murmured with a wink to her. He then turned Madison's left hand over and examined the bloodline. "I don't know if this line makes you lucky or unlucky," he told her. "Depends on your viewpoint, I'm sure."

  "You can't become a vampire by drinking my blood," she said to him through her swelling lips.

  "How do you know I want to drink your blood?" he asked, bending back over her. "Maybe I want to eat your heart instead." He gave her a monstrous grimace and pretended to take a bite from her chest.

  "I heard you and Ben talking that night at Bloodlust," she admitted in a low voice. "You think by drinking the blood of someone with one of these lines, you'll become a vampire." She wiggled the fingers of the hand Ethan held. "But only people with these lines can become vampires; that's how it works. And only a vampire can turn them."

  Ben stepped into her line of vision. "She's only trying to save her skin."

  Ben was also dressed in black, without the cap. But this time he wasn't wearing his sunglasses. Even though he was wearing his long-haired wig, Madison could see clearly that Ben was the Cobb salad guy from the diner. Fearing he might snap, she kept the truth of his identity to herself. Since she could only see the top half of the men, she guessed she was tied to a table. She also noticed that both Ethan and Ben were dirty. Turning her head one way as far as it could go, then the other, she saw that they were in a concrete building with no windows, like a garage. The ceiling overhead was low, with light fixtures like the one over her extending down in fairly even intervals. The interior appeared mostly bare as far as she could see, with just a few boxes stacked against one wall. To her other side, a van was parked. Its side door was open to reveal an assortment of items packed inside. The van had been backed in, its nose facing the large main door to make an easy exit. It looked to Madison like they were moving, but she didn't know if they were moving in or moving out. Her gut told her moving out.

  "Who told you about those lines?" Ethan demanded. "You said you were new to vampirism."

  "Colin. He told me what they meant when he met me. That's why I wanted to learn more." Madison's mind worked fast, making up a story and hoping to sell it. "We were trying to find a real vampire to turn me"

  Ethan laughed. "So what Colin did with Miriam was really to help you?"

  Madison turned her head away, trying to convey hurt. "I went looking for him that night." She turned her head back to Ethan. "I wanted to tell him that I thought you might know some real vampires who could help us. But when I found him with ... well, I just took off."

  Ben glared at her. "Doesn't explain why you're here or how you found us."

  The question worried Madison. She didn't want to give Cubby up, but she had to feed the killers something plausible. "Dumb luck, really," she said. "I was in Hollywood last night with friends. There was an old bum on the street yammering about vampires in Hollywood. Said he saw them drinking some poor girl's blood. I paid the bum to show me where." She shrugged as far as she could in her restraints. "I had no idea you'd be here. I thought I'd find real vampires."

  "But we are real vampires, Madison," said Ethan. "You heard wrong that night. We know that only vampires can make other vampires. What that bum saw, it was us helping that girl become a vampire."

  The two men studied her, but it was Ben who spoke first. "You really want to be a vampire?"

  Madison wasn't sure how dumb they thought she was, but she was going to give them as much dumb as she could muster. "Doesn't everyone want to be one?"

  Ben wouldn't give up the questions. "Who were you calling when I found you?"

  "Colin. I wanted to tell him I'd found the vampires."

  Ethan picked up her cell phone from somewhere and held it within her sight. He scrolled down through the numbers. "Colin Reddy. His name's right here" He showed it to Ben.

  "But this Reddy guy doesn't have a bloodline, does he?" asked Ben.

  "No," Madison answered. "But he's dying to see a vampire turn someone. What can I tell you, the idea of it makes him hot. And when he's hot, he's hot."

  Again, Ethan laughed. "So claims the maid Miriam."

  After a short consideration, Ethan held out her phone. "Tell you what, Madison. Why don't you give Colin a call and ask him to meet you here. Ben and I will turn you, and he can watch."

  Ben started to protest. "We need to get going, Ethan. Who knows who else that bum told."

  Ethan ignored him. "What do you say, Madison? We'll turn you, then you can suck Colin Reddy dry. He'll be your first official vampire kill. It'll serve him right for the two-timing he did back at Bloodlust."

  Madison narrowed her eyes and gave Ethan a sly grin. "I like the sound of that"

  Ethan looked up at Ben. "She's a natural."

  "Ethan, no." Ben was getting angry.

  Still ignoring his partner, Ethan pushed the speed dial for Colin. Madison didn't know if Colin would be up yet or not, and she sighed in silent relief when he answered. Ethan put the cell on speaker.

  "Hey, Colin," Madison said into the mouthpiece. "It's me." Before he could answer, she gushed with forced excitement, "Guess what? I found Ethan and Ben. I was wrong that nightthey're the vampires. They said they'd turn me and let you watch."

  "Where are you?" Colin asked, his voice deadpan.

  Ethan moved the phone closer to him. "Hear that, buddy? We've agreed to turn your little lady. But she told us you'd want to see it."

  "Yes, of course!" Colin answered with enthusiasm.

  Ethan laughed. "Bet it makes you hard just thinking about it."

  "Hell, yeah," Colin said, sharing the male-bonding moment. "Just tell me where."

  Ethan gave him the directions. "Come alone," he ordered. "We're pretty private about such things."

  "Colin lives by the beach," Madison told Ben and Ethan when the call ended. "It might take him a bit to get here, especially this time of day."

  "Get your stuff from the van," Ethan told Ben.

  Ben's face contorted in anger. "Are you out of your mind? We need to get out of here."

  "Think about it," Ethan said. "By the time that clown gets here, we'll be done. We'll have her blood and can set him up to take the fall. If we're lucky, they'll pin the other murders on him, too. We can make it look like he killed her, then killed himself out of remorse."

  On the table, Madison struggled. "What are you talking about?"

  Ben looked down at Madison, watching her wiggle on the table. Reaching under his shirt in the back, he pulled out a gun and held it up in front of Ethan. "We can use this to kill Reddy. It's untraceable-a throwaway from the street."

  Madison struggled more as she understood their plans. She knew the gun couldn't kill Colin, but she didn't want to be cut and bled out before he got to Hollywood.

  "Come on, guys. Let me loose so we can have some fun before he gets here."

  Ben looked down at her. With the hand not holding the gun, he reached up and pulled off his wig, revealing his short hair underneath. "Remember me?"

  Madison put on the best pretend shock she could muster. "You? The guy who loves Cobb salads? You're a vampire? How cool is that?" Then she paused and, as if changing shoes, changed her look to puzzlement. "Wait-if you're a vampire, how come you're eating salad?"

  Ben laughed for the first time. "Vampires not eating is just a myth. But we prefer blood-especially the blood of young, stupid girls."

  Before Madison could say anything more, Ethan slapped tape back over her mouth.

  Ben put the gun back under his shirt and went to the van, returning with medical paraphernalia. It looked to Madison like the equipment used when she donated blood.

  "We'll drain it here and
drink it later," Ben said to Ethan. "With her, we should have enough for the three of us."

  "The three of us?" inquired Ethan. "So Lilith's definitely out?"

  "Those were my orders as of this afternoon." Ben smirked. "You didn't really think we were taking her all the way, did you?"

  "Of course not. I just thought we wouldn't kill her until we were sure our plan worked."

  "Even if it doesn't, we don't need Lilith anymore"

  Ethan looked down at Madison. "Aren't you going to give her something to calm her down?"

  Ben shook his head. "The more she struggles, the faster the heart should pump it out until near the end, when she gets too weak to fight."

  From behind the tape, Madison grunted as a needle found its way into one of her veins.

  Ethan stroked Madison's hair as her blood began to flow down the plastic tubing into a bag. "I'm really going to miss drinking it straight from the vessel this time," he told Ben with regret.

  "When we're done," Ben told him with a sick grin, "I'll let you lick the spoon."

  They both laughed.

  Madison stopped moving and lay perfectly still, not wanting to rush the process.

  After a few minutes, Ben said to Ethan, "It's probably dark out by now. Why don't you go outside and try to spot that guy." He brought the gun out again and handed it to Ethan. "Here, take this in case he gives you any trouble."

  Ethan left the table and walked away, heading around the van to the side door of the building. "Man," he said from behind the van. "You have to be more careful. You left the side door open again."

  Ben swore under his breath. "Well, it's not like you helped me lug her in here."

  Without warning, a shot rang out, and Ben fell to the floor like a sack of manure.

  Scared out of her wits, Madison jerked her head as far as she could to see what was going on. From the narrow space between the front of the van and the main garage door, Mike Notchey emerged. Madison's heart jumped in her chest with surprise and relief. He looked at Madison but didn't make a move toward her. Instead, he stayed pressed against the van as Ethan ran in, gun drawn.

  When he spotted Ben on the floor, Ethan spun on one foot and fired the gun before seeing what he was firing at. The bullet hit the side of the van. He got off a second shot, which tore through Notchey. Notchey also fired three times, the second and third bullet hitting Ethan Young dead in the chest.

  Notchey stumbled to Madison and removed the tape from her mouth, taking more skin with the adhesive. She let out a sharp yelp. "Let's get you out of here." He started working on her bindings but had to stop as pain ran through his body like an out-of-control freight train.

  "Oh my god!" Madison yelled when she saw blood spreading across Notchey's shirt.

  "Don't worry about me." He tore off the binding on her left arm and removed the needle, being careful with the tubing and blood bag. "Bend your arm to stop the bleeding," he ordered. She obeyed.

  Removing the binding on Madison's other arm, Notchey stopped to take several deep breaths. It was then his eyes caught sight of the bundle against the wall, near the boxes. With her arms free, Madison sat up and focused on what had snagged Mike's attention. A scream started in her throat, but she cut it short. Propped against the wall, wrapped in clear plastic, was the body of Gordon, Samuel's bodyguard.

  Madison forced her attention back to the living. "Forget him-we have to get you help."

  He shook his head. "I'm waiting for Colin. I overheard he's on his way. As soon as he gets you out of here, I'll call for backup." He went to work on the bindings on Madison's legs.

  Madison grabbed Notchey's arm. "I'm not leaving without you.

  "Nothing I can't handle if Reddy doesn't dawdle. Now shut up and help me."

  Madison was nearly free when Colin came through the side door. The vampire came around the van, took one look at the chaos, and ran to help Notchey, only pausing for a half second when his eyes snagged on Gordon's body.

  "He's bleeding bad," Madison told Colin.

  "Forget me," Notchey told Colin. "Get her the hell out of here. And take that blood shit with you." Notchey also wadded up Madison's bindings and handed them to Colin. "Take anything that could link her or her DNA to this place," he ordered as he leaned against the table for support.

  Colin, understanding instantly, helped the wobbly Madison to her feet. She hung on to the table for support. Grabbing Madison's jacket from the floor, he threw it over her shoulders. Then he policed the area again, looking for other traces of her being there.

  "That your phone?" he asked her, pointing to one on the floor, by the table. When she nodded, he picked it up and handed it to her. Then he took his own jacket off and wrapped the blood bag and tubing in it. "Come on, Madison," he said in a firm voice. "Mike's right, we have to get you out of here."

  "What about Gordon?"

  "It's too late to help him."

  A cell phone rang, but it wasn't Madison's. The sound was coming from Ben's body. Carefully, Colin retrieved the phone from Ben's pocket and looked at the display, surprise registering at the name. He slipped the phone into his own pocket and continued to help Madison.

  Holding his bloody side, Mike grimaced and turned to Colin. "You have two minutes, then I'm calling for backup."

  "But ..." Madison stammered, still not wanting to leave Mike behind.

  "Go with Colin," Notchey demanded. "I'll call as soon as I can.

  Reluctantly, Madison let Colin lead her around the van and out the door. Once outside, they walked as fast as Madison could. Colin held his bundle in one arm and wrapped his other arm around Madison's waist to support her. They kept close to the buildings and in the shadows until they reached his motorcycle, which he'd parked out of sight, next to a dumpster behind one of the first buildings. Once safely on, Madison directed him over the freeway to the burger joint where she'd parked her car.

  "You okay to drive?" Colin asked, unsure no matter what she answered.

  "Yes. I'm feeling much better now." She sucked on a Coke Colin had bought her and leaned against her car. Her eyes wandered across the freeway. Seconds earlier, sirens had screamed down Hollywood Boulevard and turned in the direction they had just come from.

  "Mike's going to be fine, Madison," Colin assured her.

  "And Gordon? He won't be."

  "No, he won't, but Samuel will handle that."

  THIRTY-FOUR

  s Colin had promised, Mike Notchey was fine. When the police reached him, he was sitting propped against the van holding his gun on the men on the floor. Ben had been killed instantly; Ethan died on the way to the hospital. Traces of blood linking them to the deaths of the women and Geoff Baxter had been found in the van, including a cooler holding bags of blood, some of it from Geoff. The police were trying to trace the sources of the other blood.

  Ben's gun had also been the weapon that had killed Gordon. Gordon's connection to Ethan and Ben was never made clear, and the police assumed he'd been part of the killing spree, though they couldn't prove it. Since Gordon had no family, Samuel didn't set the record straight, which would have required a detailed explanation. He also managed to keep his name as Cordon's employer out of it, though privately he mourned the man who'd served him faithfully for so many years.

  Several days later, Mike and Madison were enjoying some fall sunlight on the Dedham patio. After leaving the hospital, Mike had come to stay with them for a few days until he got his strength back, giving Dodie a full house and a patient to look after, much to her delight.

  "I would never have forgiven myself had you died," Madison told Mike, being alone with him for the first time since the shooting. "You should have let me stay and help, even if Colin couldn't."

  Notchey shook his head. "No way," he insisted. "They would have interrogated you until you dropped-not that you would have folded willingly under the pressure, but we couldn't take that chance. As far as the police know, I went to that garage on a tip from an old bum and found them packing their shit to disa
ppear. Young fired on me. I fired back, hitting both of them. Four bullets for two scumbags." He shrugged. "Perfect ending to a shit story."

  "But I'm the one who got the tip from Cubby." Madison looked over at Mike, who was settled on a chaise. She could tell he was itching for a cigarette, but he'd made the decision to use his convalescence to stop cold turkey.

  "Yes," Notchey admitted. "And I followed the tip by following you. I knew when we talked that day you were hiding something" He shook his head. "I may not be Samuel, but I am a trained detective, Madison. I know when people are avoiding the truth. And you were so caught up with playing Nancy Drew, you never noticed anyone shadowing you. I'm sorry I wasn't close enough to stop him from clubbing you."

  "So why did you wait so long before breaking into the garage?"

  "I didn't break in. That jughead really did leave the door open. And I needed to hear as much as I could. I also wanted to give Colin enough time to get there." Notchey looked straight into her eyes. "Believe me, I would have stepped in sooner had I thought they were going to kill you outright. If Colin hadn't arrived when he did, I wouldn't have been able to get you out, and it would have been a lot messier for all of us."

  "And what about Ethan and Ben?"

  Mike shifted uneasily on the chaise, grimacing as pain rippled through his middle. He knew where Madison was going with her question, and he knew he would have to tell her or she'd pester him to death-or worse, go hunting for the answers on her own.

  "What about them?" he asked, stalling for time to collect his thoughts.

  "From what I heard, it sounded like their orders were coming from someone else."

  With a nod, Mike confirmed her guess. "As we originally thought, Bobby Piper and the creep in custody were foot soldiers. Ethan and Ben were the middlemen answering to someone else."

  "You know who?"

  This time when he moved, the pain showed on Mike's face.

  "You okay?" asked an anxious Madison.

  "Yeah, I'm fine." He gingerly adjusted himself into a more comfortable position, then took a deep breath before dumping the info he had in her lap. "Ben Winthrop was traced to Lady Harriet. Ben's her son."