by Jon F. Merz
“Well, I have to say that thus far, I’m not exactly impressed.”
“Why go through all this trouble? You could have killed Elena anytime you wanted. What the hell did you need me involved for?”
Kemp shrugged. “In the old days, we wouldn’t have needed a convenient scape goat. But with the Soviet Union no more, the populace tends to be very suspicious and those in power don’t want to ruffle their feathers. Killing Elena became an obvious necessity, but doing it in such a benign manner was even more vital.”
“Yeah, but she’s dying already.”
Kemp shook his head. “No, she’s not.” He looked back at Elena. “Did you hear that, darling? That nasty brain tumor? All made up by your doctors on orders from higher up.”
“Why would you tell her that?”
Kemp looked back at me. “To rush her toward doing what we knew she would do all along: defect. Once she grew disappointed with how the program was progressing, it was obvious that she might tell the west about what we’d managed to accomplish. And there are those in my country who feel that we may one day have need for psychic weapons. If we lose that edge over our enemies, then the effects of the program are nullified.”
“So you made up the story, got to her brother and Gavin, and then used me to bring her to you.”
Kemp nodded. “As I said, the convenient fall guy.” He frowned. “There’s just one little thing: we don’t know who you are.”
“I told you, male gigolo.”
Kemp sniffed. “Interestingly enough, you don’t show up in our database. And we have an extensive one. Thousands of people employed by the western intelligence services. Yet, no one with your face. It’s almost as if you don’t even exist.”
I smiled. “I’m just a bad memory to a lot of people.”
“Indeed,” said Kemp. “However, we need to know because it helps with the story we’ll plant about Elena. So kindly tell me who runs you.”
As Kemp talked, I worked my wrists. The knots were good and solid, but they’d been designed to hold a human being. Not a vampire. And not a fully-juiced vampire at that.
“You know as I well I do that I’d never give out that information.”
Kemp frowned. “I can make her writhe in agony.”
I shrugged. “So what? I hardly know her.”
“You care more about her then you would admit.” Kemp turned and pointed a finger at Elena. Immediately she cried out.
As I watched, she flailed about as if she had no control over her limbs. She bucked and then went still, her eyes closed.
Kemp turned back to me. “You see?”
I heard Elena’s voice. “I thought you were dead.”
Kemp laughed. “I was your crowning achievement, Elena. The one who didn’t die. The one who figured out how to control the energy. You can imagine how much more valuable I became when they realized I was immune to the mental bullet.”
Judging by the give in the knots, I knew I could break them at will. But I needed to keep Kemp’s henchman busy. Elena had to help. Somehow.
I looked at Kemp. “So you can kill people with your mind?”
“Easily.”
I shrugged. “Big deal. Elena can move shit at will. Telekinesis is so much more impressive. Like if she made your buddy over there fly into the wall or something.” I looked at Elena. Hard.
She nodded once.
“That is quite beyond her abilities,” said Kemp with a sneer. “She was never anywhere near to me in terms of what she could do with her mind.”
“Wanna bet?”
And then Elena shut her eyes tight and grimaced. Kemp’s henchman suddenly cried out and grabbed his throat.
Kemp reacted instantly, raising his hand toward Elena.
I broke the ropes and came out of the chair charging for him, driving down and toward the floor as we collided. Kemp grunted and rolled with me. We crashed into a pile of boxes.
Kemp came to his feet and immediately attacked, kicking up at my exposed chin. I dodged, narrowly missing his shoe. Then I closed and delivered two quick strikes to either side of his rib cage, trying to shatter the bones there. Kemp grunted and I went upstairs for a quick hook to his jaw. But he turned and my first glanced off the side of his face. I’d pegged him, but not hard enough.
He threw an elbow at me and it connected with my neck. Hurt like hell, but I shook it off and drove back into him. We tumbled and I came up astride his chest, raining punches down on him.
“Lawson!”
I turned. Elena was covered in sweat and Kemp’s henchman was getting to his feet. She must have exhausted her strength keeping him occupied.
But Kemp’s helper was stumbling. He kept rubbing his throat.
I threw another punch into Kemp’s throat and then scrambled off of him, running for the other bad guy.
He turned as I flew at him - tried to bring his hands up to ward me off. No good, I plowed into him and ran him right back into another pile of boxes. These had no give and we collided hard. I heard his wind go out of his lungs and he started to collapse. I let him slide down, got my hands around his jaw and jerked his head to one side, further than his spinal cord had been designed to accommodate. A pop told me I’d broken his neck and I let him slide to the floor, dead.
Elena cried out.
I turned.
Kemp.
He had one arm outstretched toward Elena.
I threw myself toward him, coming between him and Elena. Instantly, my head felt like a million hammers were thundering inside of my skull. But I kept going. And as I reached him, I could see the look of bewilderment on Kemp’s face.
“You should be dead. No human could ever withstand that assault.”
I grabbed his arm, stomped his rib cage, and then jerked the arm out of his shoulder socket. Kemp screamed and I leaned over him. “I’m not human.” Then I dropped my knee into his throat and drove my weight through breaking his neck. For an instant, he shuddered and then his body went still. I checked his pulse to be sure, but Kemp - or whatever his real name was - was dead.
“Lawson…”
I ran back to Elena and got her untied. She collapsed into my arms. Blood ran out of her ears. A bit of pink froth dribbled from her mouth.
“Shit…”
She smiled. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It does to me.”
“No,” said Elena. “What I told you earlier…you gave me more than I could have hoped for…it was the truth. I meant it.”
I could feel her pulse dwindling. “Dammit, don’t die on me, Elena…”
“It’s too late. But at least you killed him. Make sure…it’s not in vain. The west has to know…what we made…”
“I’ll make sure they do. I promise.”
Elena’s smile was weak. “At least…we had…today…”
I leaned down and kissed her. Her lips were cold. “I won’t forget you.”
“Neither…will…I…”
Her eyes rolled away from me and I saw them go vacant. I sat there cradling her body. Staring at her. Willing her to come back.
But I knew it wouldn’t work.
Death was an absolute.
And as far as I knew, there was no such thing as a roundtrip ticket.
I set Elena’s head down gently and kissed her one last time. Then I got to my feet and walked out of the warehouse. Three bodies wouldn’t bode well for me if the cops discovered me here. I needed to disappear and quick.
Sometimes, this business really sucked.
As I walked back to the car, I wiped my eyes.
It must have been all that dust in the warehouse.
Also by Jon F. Merz
The Fixer: A Lawson Vampire Novel
The Invoker: A Lawson Vampire Novel
The Destructor: A Lawson Vampire Novel
The Syndicate: A Lawson Vampire Novel
The Price of a Good Drink: A Lawson Vampire Story
The Courier: A Lawson Vampire Mission
The Kensei: A Lawso
n Vampire Novel
Enemy Mine: A Lawson Vampire Story
The Ripper: A Lawson Vampire Novel
The Shepherd: A Lawson Vampire Mission
Mission: Malta: A Lawson Vampire Mission
The Enchanter: A Lawson Vampire Novel
A Fog Of Fury: A Lawson Vampire Mission
The Infiltrator: A Lawson Vampire Mission