Bad Blood: A VamPR Nightmare (Pisces Paranormal PR Agency Book 1)

by Bee Murray

  “What the hell do you think you are doing?” I shouted at him.

  He looked to the passenger seat and then back to me, and Vinnie’s face appeared as he leaned forward.

  “Vincent Quaker you turn around right now!” I shouted.

  Vinnie’s face disappeared and Franke’s panic stricken profile filled the window instead.

  “Quaker? His name is Vincent Quaker?” Olivia asked incredulously.

  “Yup.” I glanced at her over my shoulder, but her eyes were on the road. The tracking beacon beeped softly—target acquired. “Don't you read the gossip columns?”

  “Can’t say I have time,” Olivia replied in a dry tone. “Or that I actually care.”

  I glared back at the Alfa Romeo that sped along beside us. This was dangerous. He could easily outpace us if he got to the open road. I never yelled in traffic. But there was a stoplight ahead, one that they couldn’t run.

  The cars rolled to a stop and I leaned out and slammed my palm against the driver’s side window of Vinnie’s car. “Open the goddamned window, Frankie!”

  Obediently, the window came down and Frankie treated me to a sheepish look as I pointed a finger in his face. “You pull this car over right now, do you hear me?”

  I sounded like my mother.

  All that was missing was my father’s chuckle as he realized he wasn’t the one being yelled at.

  “Tuesday, I can explain—”

  “You don’t understand,” Vinnie shouted from the passenger seat. “I have to do this, Tuesday! You can’t expect me to let the police handle this!”

  “I can and I do!” I shouted.

  Behind us, horns started honking as other drivers wondered why I was hanging half out of the window of an SUV at a stoplight that was about to change.

  “Pull that goddamn car off the road,” I shouted. “I’ll have your gun and key card for this, Frankie, don’t think I won’t do it.”

  “Unit 6 is approaching from the northeast. They will box him in if he tries to run,” Olivia whispered to me, pointing at the tracking screen. I nodded and saw there was another industrial area one block over. Perfect place to lose the audience.

  “Frankie,” I warned, “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll pull that car over in the next parking lot you see. It’s half a block down. This ends now. Don’t make us use force. You know we will.”

  Frankie looked pale and he glanced at his irate passenger before giving an infinitesimal nod in my direction. The light turned green and I pulled myself back into the SUV in time for Olivia to hit the gas and go peeling out after the Alfa.

  True to his word, Frankie slowed the car and swerved into the dark parking lot of an empty big-box store. He sped up, aimed the car for the darkest corner and, at the last minute, cranked the wheel sharply and slid the car across the wet pavement. It came to a stop parallel to our SUV. Dramatic movie-quality parking job? Check. I had to remember to review Frankie’s resume to see if he’d been a stunt driver before he started at Pisces.

  My heart pounded in my chest.

  Vinnie was screaming at Frankie from the passenger side. He lunged for the keys but Franie blocked him.

  “Olivia, make sure this parking lot is sealed. And check for cameras.” I ordered as I jumped down onto the pavement and marched over to Vinnie’s side of the car.

  “Hey. Asswipe. Get out of the car.”

  Vinnie’s eyes were deep, blood red, and his fangs were fully descended. I shouldn’t have been surprised by how quickly he opened the door and loomed over me, but it was hard to get used to seeing him like… this.

  I made eye contact with Olivia over his shoulder and glanced down at the car. I hoped like hell that she could read my intention. We needed to get Baldwin out of the car and away from Vinnie or he wouldn’t survive the night.

  I took a small, relieved breath as Olivia acknowledged my cue and then I turned my attention back to the vampire who stood over me and crossed my arms over my chest.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I demanded. I had to show him that I wasn’t afraid, but the memory of what he’d done to the cabin when his monster took hold still lingered in the back of my mind. That monster was staring down at me—all passion and fury. He hadn’t fed in hours, this was a desperate vampire; hungry for revenge and everything else he couldn’t have. I could handle this.

  At least, I hoped I could.

  25

  TUESDAY

  “I could kill you where you stand,” Vinnie threatened. He loomed over me in all his furious glory.

  But I wasn’t impressed.

  We’d been down this road before.

  “Yeah, yeah. The last time you tried to do that you ended up playing ‘pin the antler on the vampire’ and almost killed yourself. You wanna try that again? I’m sure I could find a speed bump for you to trip over.”

  Vinnie blinked at me and a growl started in his chest.

  I was already pushing my luck. Why not lean in?

  “You’re not going to kill me, Vin,” I continued. “You know why? You can’t kill me. You just don’t have it in you.” I jabbed his chest with my finger to make my point and he hissed at me menacingly.

  Olivia’s team crept closer and closer to the car so I decided to take a risk.

  Vinnie was incensed and I briefly questioned the logic in provoking him further. Ah well, in for a penny…

  “You think I still love you? That love will save you?” He sneered, the darkness casting shadows over his cold face.

  I grabbed his wrist and yanked him forward, dragging him deeper into the shadows and away from the car.

  “Love will save me, Vincent. You know how I know? Because if you killed me? It would hurt me for a second and then I’d be free. But you? You would suffer for the rest of your miserable, afterlife with the knowledge that you killed me. It would hurt you. You’re too selfish to carry that. You were a terrible boyfriend, and now you’re an embarrassment of a vampire.”

  The last part wasn’t true… He hadn’t been terrible. Not all the time.

  Vinnie looked at me incredulously.

  “You know why I have to do this, Tuesday,” he pleaded quietly. He looked down at his feet.

  Did this mean I’d won?

  “No, Vinnie. I really don’t know. This is wrong. We had a plan and people—so many people—have put their asses on the line to cover your mistakes. Going rogue like this? Not part of the plan. Proving all the haters who think vampires are just violent psychopaths right by kidnapping and killing someone? Not part of the plan. You do this and there’s no more Vinnie Quake. No more garage full of cars. No mansion on Bainbridge… It all goes away, and you get staked out at the airport waiting for your last sunrise. You get me?”

  Vinnie paced back and forth in front of me. I could hear his teeth grinding and the growl that he couldn’t hide rumbled in his throat and made goosebumps ripple down my arms.

  “Vinnie— Do you get me?” I repeated.

  “Baldwin has to die, Tuesday. He has to...” He stopped pacing and stepped close to me. He towered over me, but I tilted my head up defiantly and held my ground.

  A sense of sadness filled me as we regarded each other. My team was waiting for my cue to take Vinnie down... By force, if needed. Baldwin would be taken into custody, and Frankie? Well, I sensed there would be a few more training sessions in his future. Maybe more than a few.

  I’d have to do some explaining as to why I chose him for the job. I’d chosen a little too well. Then again, Frankie might have a future as part of Vinnie’s personal security detail… if I could get the fanged moron to calm the hell down.

  “And what does that get you? Does it get you any answers?” I demanded. “If you do this, if you get your way… where does that leave you? With a body on your hands and a lot of paperwork on mine.”

  Vinnie glared down at me, but I could see his resolve crumbling.

  “I can give you a million reasons why this is the worst possible idea,” I said.
“You know I’m right. Don’t throw this all away for a crumb of revenge…”

  “I can’t just let him get away with it.”

  “He won’t,” I promised. “He’ll be taken into custody. They already have Zach—there’s CCTV evidence of him entering your house before the explosion. Baldwin, too. It’s already in the works.”

  Vinnie’s hands balled into fists at his sides and I glanced at the security team as they approached the car out of the darkness. They were moving slow, but there was no other way to do it. If Vinnie knew what they were doing, he could turn on them in an instant. And I didn’t want to be responsible for any death tonight.

  I had to keep him distracted until Baldwin could be taken out of the car and moved to safety. Frankie’s door opened and I saw the big man get out and move slowly to the rear door where Baldwin was waiting anxiously for him to help him out. He must have been injured.

  Vinnie, what have you done?

  “The cops aren’t going to do anything to Zach,” Vinnie raged, ignoring my distraction. “They’ll call him up on some bullshit charge and he’ll get to sit in a secure cell with three meals a day and all the TV he can watch… If he even gets convicted. It’s his word and Baldwin’s against mine and the bitch of it is? I am a vampire. I can’t hide that anymore. Crimes against vamps are nothing more than an anomaly. You know that as well as I do. He could claim any defense and be out in six months, earlier with good behavior. And those shitweasels you stirred up will call him a hero.”

  “But if you kill him, or Baldwin, they’ll be martyrs. Is that what you want instead?” I demanded. He wasn’t wrong. The judicial process didn’t favor vampires any more than it favored anyone else who challenged the status quo. But if I let him do this—everything would come crashing down. I couldn’t let that happen. There was more here than met the eye. This was bigger and far-reaching. I would stake my career on it.”

  “You have to think of someone other than yourself for once and trust that we have a plan,” I said. I couldn’t keep the anger out of my voice. His betrayal, manipulations… every single article I’d ever read about him; every exposé about the ‘real’ Vinnie Quake; every photo of him canoodling with some starlet—I couldn’t let it go.

  “I think about you all the time,” he said softly. He reached for my hand and held it gently. The blood red in his eyes had faded as his monster retreated into the shadows. It was Vinnie again, but at the same time, it wasn’t. He wasn’t mine anymore.

  I pulled my hand out of his grasp. “It’s a little late for that, Vin,” I said. “But I’m going to get you out of this, you just have to—”

  “Hey!”

  A strangled shout from behind us made me turn. Frankie lay stretched out on the pavement, his face was strangely pale in the parking lot lights and the sight of him made my stomach tighten.

  More shouts filled the air and I realized that Baldwin was nowhere in sight.

  “What happened?” I shouted, my heart in my chest.

  Frankie was here on my orders. The idea of anything happening to him on my watch was abhorrent to me.

  I dragged my eyes away from my friend and colleague and turned back to Vinnie.

  “You let him get away?” Vinnie cried out, enraged.

  My mind was racing. I wanted to be with Frankie and help him, but Vinnie was losing his shit. An out-of-control vampire would not help Frankie at all.

  I leapt forward and clung to Vinnie, holding him back as best I could.

  “Vinnie. You can’t! Please.”

  He growled in my ear and tried to side-step me.

  I knew if Vinnie caught his former manager that he would most certainly kill him on the spot. Rightfully so. He had set this entire mess in motion. But I couldn’t let that happen. Not yet, anyway. We still needed information that only he could give. I squinted through the dim light and could just make out a figure running towards the street.

  “Olivia! Northeast quadrant!” I yelled, gesturing wildly.

  Vinnie lunged again but I held on, my nails digging in. He could easily overpower me if he tried and I was thankful he had not.

  Olivia barked orders into her walkie and pointed into the darkness, tracking Baldwin. In the blink of an eye,Baldwin was on the street. Olivia’s security teams ran toward him, boots thundered over the pavement, but before they could reach him, a car screeched up to the curb and the door flew open.

  Baldwin cast a desperate look over his shoulder at the approaching security officers and his face twisted into a grin before he lurched forward and dove into the car’s back seat.

  “No!” Vinnie roared. He broke free of my grip and ran with long strides toward the road, but the car had already screeched away from the curb and disappeared into the darkness.

  He stopped at Frankie’s side and stood there for a moment, staring at the empty street before he crouched down to lay a hand on the fallen man’s shoulder.

  Brilliant. Just brilliant. That was definitely not part of the plan.

  I ran over to Olivia who was speaking quickly into her phone.

  “What the hell happened?” I demanded.

  Olivia ended the call and shook her head in disbelief. “One minute Frankie was helping him out of the car, the next minute he had Frankie’s sidearm in his hand and Frankie was on the ground.”

  “Is he okay?”

  Other members of the security team were at Frankie’s side and helped him sit up.

  “Looks like it. I think Baldwin smashed him with the gun and then made a run for it.” She shook her head. “You gals sure know how to pick ‘em.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Olivia leveled a serious gaze at me. “It means, I like to know that I can trust my clients not to double cross me.”

  “You and me both,” I sighed.

  “You knew this would happen,” Vinnie shouted. He charged toward us and I took an instinctive step back. Olivia moved in front of me and pulled her sidearm on Vinnie. He didn’t stop.

  “Bullets can’t hurt me,” he laughed. “I’ve already been shot once tonight.”

  “Not with silver bullets you haven’t,” Olivia called out. “Stop where you are, Mr. Quake. I don’t want to shoot you, but if I have to put you down and make you behave yourself, I will.”

  Vinnie snorted, but he slowed his pace. “Why did this happen?” he demanded as he pointed into the dark. “He shouldn’t have been able to get away! Why wasn’t someone watching him!”

  “Someone was watching him,” Olivia retorted. “He looks like he’s going to need stitches for his trouble.” She hadn’t lowered her weapon yet, and Vinnie eyed her with a little more respect.

  His shoulders dropped slightly. “What happens now.”

  Good boy.

  “Now, you and Frankie are going to go on to the safe house,” I said firmly as I glared at Vinnie over Olivia’s shoulder. “I’m sending you back to the cabin. Keeping you in the city is out of the question.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you can’t keep your fanged face out of everyone’s business. What if someone saw you on your little joyride today? A Vinnie Quake sighting would be like an Elvis sighting. We can’t risk it. Your funeral is in two days, and I need you reliably out of sight.”

  “Frankie’s coming with me?” Vinnie looked almost hopeful. He looked back at where the big man was seated on the pavement. A medic leaned over him and secured a bandage over his eyebrow.

  “I’ve re-assigned him,” Olivia said briskly. “He’ll be your personal detail. But he won’t be driving you anywhere.”

  Vinnie grinned and shook his head. “Too bad.”

  “Can it, chuckles,” I snapped. “You have to get moving. We’ve been here too long, and I have to get back to Pisces. You have no idea how much shit I’m in for leaving that meeting.”

  “Tuesday, I—”

  “Step away, Mr. Quake,” Olivia said firmly. Her weapon was still raised. She wasn’t fucking around, and she certainly didn’t trust Vi
nnie in the slightest. Even though I would have liked to talk to him alone, this was probably for the best. “You’ll be going with my team. Get into the SUV.”

  “Can I say goodbye?” he asked softly.

  “I’ll be in touch,” I said. “You’ll be fine. They’ll look after you, and you’ll have Frankie for company. I hear he’s great at Gin Rummy.”

  “I am!” Frankie called out. Two members of the security team helped him to his feet and patted him on the shoulder. He’d be fine.

  Vinnie locked eyes with me, nodded, and then turned away to walk back to Frankie.

  Olivia didn’t lower her weapon until Vinnie was escorted to a waiting SUV.

  “Thanks,” I murmured.

  “No problem. That wasn’t part of the plan was it?”

  “Not by a long shot.”

  Olivia smiled briefly. “Good to know, I’d be worried if it was.”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

  “Anytime.”

  * * *

  ***

  * * *

  I stood beside Olivia’s SUV as the one that carried Vinnie pulled out of the parking lot and back onto the road. As the taillights disappeared over the hill, my eyes stung with unexpected tears and I drew in a shuddering breath.

  This hadn’t been a simple choice. I knew that Vinnie would see all of it as the ultimate betrayal. I had denied him justice and forced him to follow the plan. That wasn’t something a man like Vinnie had accepted before he was turned, and he certainly hadn’t changed.

  My team would take good care of him. He would be entertained, catered to, whatever it took to keep him in one place until all of this blew over, they would do it. Vinnie would be safe and sound and as happy as they could make him until it was time for him to make his re-emergence as the biggest vampire rockstar on the planet.

  This wasn’t goodbye so why did it hurt so bad?

  Carlyn had already told me that I was being reassigned. Something about being ‘too close’ to the client. If she only knew.