Judge of the Damned (Vampire Storm, Book 1)

by Nick S. Thomas

  Collapsing on the bed it was only minutes before Bill was asleep, not because he rested easy, but because his body had nothing left in it. The screams from his parish haunted his dreams, the face of Rainer now more ingrained in his head than his wife’s, a fact he hated but could not change.

  * * *

  Harriet awoke Bill half an hour before sunrise just as she said she would. He had always hated having to wake unnaturally before the sun was up, but it was sadly something he was forced to become accustomed to in his years of work. He barely said a word to Harriet, stumbling into the bathroom as she climbed into the bed he had only just left. He looked at himself in the mirror, a mess. He had not shaved in days, and his face had a number of cuts and faint bruises.

  After a quick wash, Marshall threw on his clothes and headed for the truck. He was eagerly awaiting the evening, but nothing could happen until then. It was important that both the Coven and Bradley’s men met together, they needed darkness for such a thing to happen properly.

  Lifting himself into the seat of the Suburban, Bill noticed that his body was almost back to normal, most of the aches and pains had died down, it no longer hurt to get in and out of a vehicle. He fired up the engine and drove the truck out towards the yard he had found the night before. It would be the site of his next battle, a location of his choosing and with preparation time. He had seen it the night before, but was eager to see it in the light of day to get a better idea of the surroundings.

  The gates were still open from where he had broken the chains. The truck rumbled on down the alleyway and into the open yard to the exact position where he had parked it before. He stepped out of the truck and looked around. The many windows in the buildings either side would be of great use to him.

  As Marshall stood looking at the building he intended to position himself in that night he suddenly became aware of a gut feeling that he was being watched, a tingling and uncomfortable one to say the least, especially considering his current situation. He spun quickly, drawing his Mateba as he did so. He breathed a sigh of relief as he realised that Tommy was standing in front of him, so lowered his gun.

  “Tommy, still got some skills then?”

  “Yeah, Bill.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I wanted to apologise for the other night, I know I led that Brotherhood team to our meeting point, it was stupid.”

  “That’s okay, Bradley is an underhand bastard we both know that. Sure you weren’t followed here?”

  “Positive. After our last meeting I learnt to be a lot more careful.”

  “Alright, what do you want?”

  “I want to help.”

  Marshall sighed, he appreciated the offer, but it was the last thing he wanted. He never wished to put his friends in harm’s way.

  “Don’t be an idiot, Tommy, I am a criminal now, I’ll be lucky if I survive the next week.”

  “Then we’ll go down together.”

  “Really? What’s your wife have to say about that? And your son?” shouted Bill.

  “They will have to live with whatever happens.”

  “No! I lost my family and that cannot be changed, I will not let you endanger yours!”

  “I want to help you, Bill.”

  “Then stay near Bradley and hand me information, but only when it’s safe, I must do this alone.”

  Tommy looked around the site that they were standing in, carefully studying it.

  “You’ve got plans for this place haven’t you? One entrance by car, plenty of firing positions, perfect place for an ambush.”

  “Tommy, the less you know the better, I’ve got to get out of here. I appreciate what you’re offering, I really do, but please think of your family!”

  Bill climbed into his truck and fired up the engine, as Tommy moved closer to the door he rolled down the driver’s window.

  “Good luck, Bill.”

  “And to you, my friend.”

  Bill slipped the truck into gear and drove on out of the location, looking at Tommy in his rear view mirror, simply standing there and watching him leave. In years past he would have wanted nothing more than to have men like Tommy stand at his side, willing to go to hell and back, but now he knew the price of such things. Bill pulled out his mobile and called the Bishop’s office.

  “This is Bishop William’s office,” said Bradley.

  “Put me onto Williams.”

  “Marshall, is that you?”

  “Yeah, now put me through to the Bishop.”

  “I can’t do that, Bill, he’s busy right now. What can I do for you?”

  “Bradley, stop fucking with me, only way Kingston is getting any info is if I talk directly to the Bishop, otherwise I hang up right now!”

  The line went quiet for a few moments whilst Bradley carefully considered his action.

  “Alright, Bill, patching you through now.”

  “Bill? This is Williams, where are you?”

  “Your Eminence, I have evidence that it was Karl Rainer and several members of his Coven who burnt down my parish and killed everyone inside. I want to come in and present the information to you personally.”

  “Of course, come in immediately.”

  “Not yet, I have a few things to tie up, and I want to meet on neutral ground, I have good reason not to trust certain elements within Kingston.”

  “Where can we meet you?”

  “The meet will be at eight this evening, I will call you at seven to notify you of the location. I do not care who you bring with you, but you must be there in person, I will not surrender myself to anyone but you personally.”

  “Okay, Bill, but what...”

  Marshall put the phone down, cutting off the Bishop from any further negotiations.

  Williams walked out of his office and into Bradley’s.

  “Did you hear that?” he asked.

  “Yes, what do you want me to do?”

  “Assemble a team, we are doing this properly.”

  “What are our rules of engagement on Marshall?”

  “If he comes peacefully, we will do as he asked. I want him treated as one of us, he will have a chance to present his information. At the same time, we do not know what to expect, I want ten good men, make sure we have some sharpshooters to cover the scene.”

  “Yes, Your Eminence.”

  * * *

  Marshall picked up his phone again, thinking carefully about his plan and how to implement it. He called up Detective Matthews’ cell phone.

  “This is Matthews.”

  “Frank, its Bill.”

  “Jesus, Bill, I thought you were going to stop calling?”

  “Sorry, but I am trying to bring all this to a close. You said you thought there was someone feeding information to Rainer in your precinct, right?”

  “Yeah, at least one.”

  “Alright, after lunch I want you to spread the word that I am surrendering to Bishop Williams this evening.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Please, just do it, make it look like an informant told you, be casual about it.”

  “Alright, but how is this going to help?”

  “Please, leave it to me, just do this for me.”

  “Alright, Bill.”

  “Thanks.”

  Marshall closed his cell and rode on to a local hardware store. He bought a small generator and two floodlights. He drove on back to the site where he planned the meet for that night. At the far end of the yard from the entrance alleyway was an office attached to one of the larger buildings. He set up the generator by the side and hung the floodlights high on the wall so that they would light up most of the yard.

  Driving back to the lockup, Bill parked up the truck and jumped on his Harley. A bike had always been a significant part of his image, and with the flight cases bolted on, it looked like it was his. He rode on down to the yard and propped it up beside the office, near the generator. He had to walk back to the lockup, almost an hour to think the situation over in hi
s head.

  Had he had anyone else other than Harriet as an ally he could have got them to pick him up with the truck. The fact that she was a Vampire constantly affected the way he worked, though it was often easy to forget that once they got into the night.

  Marshall waited out what was left of the day in his armoury, making final preparations to his weapons and running over the plan in his head, over and over again. He had not realised how much time had passed as he was in a daydream state but when Harriet appeared in the doorway, he knew what time of day it was.

  “Hey, Bill, are you going to go through the plan with me, or leave me on the sideline?”

  “I got two rifles for a reason.”

  She smiled, she was pleased to have earned his trust, and now being able to be genuinely useful.

  “I have arranged to meet the Bishop at eight, not told him where yet, but it will be the yard we were at last night. As far as he knows it is so I can hand myself in to him.”

  “Alright, what’s the plan?”

  “I have leaked the info to Rainer, it should get him along.”

  “Okay, how is this going to play out?”

  “Get the two together with enough stress and distrust, I am hoping the heat will be too much for them, otherwise, we’ll give them a push. We will be posted either side of the yard, hidden in the buildings, here, take this.”

  Bill handed her a radio with an earpiece and microphone hanging from it.

  “Put this on, we’ll be able to talk providing we are within a couple of miles of each other.”

  * * *

  Rainer was sat in his office chair, head in hand, he had gotten nowhere in his attempt to track down Bill Marshall. Never in his life had he feared any man, but this foe appeared to be far more than just a man, he seemed unstoppable. Anton walked into the room.

  “Boss, just got news that Marshall is surrendering himself to the Bishop!”

  “What? When? How did you find this out?”

  “Info came from an officer in one of the city precincts. It’s tonight.”

  “Is it solid?”

  “This man has given us countless reliable tips.”

  “Alright, get some men together, we’re going to work this evening!”

  Anton walked out the room to make preparations as Rainer picked up the phone on his desk. He dialled the number of the Bishop.

  “This is Bishop William’s office,” said Bradley.

  “This is Karl Rainer, put the Bishop on.”

  Bradley’s heart raced. Rainer had always intimidated him, and he knew what the Vampire would think if he found out that they were trying to bring Marshall in peacefully.

  “Putting you through now.”

  “This is Bishop Williams.”

  “Williams, any news on finding Marshall?”

  “We are following up some leads but have nothing concrete yet,” said Williams.

  “I don’t think you appreciate how serious this situation is. I have lost a number of friends already, along with countless damage to my business operations, what are you doing about it?”

  “Mr Rainer, we are doing everything we can, but we are hunting one expertly trained man in a large city that he is intimately familiar with.”

  “I don’t want to hear anymore of your excuses, Bishop, just get him!”

  Rainer slammed the phone down as Meyers walked into the room.

  “Any leads?” asked Meyers.

  “I just heard that Marshall is handing himself into the Bishop this evening, but I just spoke to that bastard and he says they have nothing on Marshall, lying bastard!”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “Anton is assembling some guys now, get over to Kingston, hold up nearby and out of view. I want to hear the minute that anyone leaves. If the Bishop is doing this in person then he will have sizeable support, it’ll be obvious when he leaves.”

  “What are we going to do about it?”

  “We’ll follow Williams to the meet with Marshall and make sure it goes down as it should!”

  * * *

  Bill and Harriet were prepping their equipment and loading it into the truck.

  “Alright, we are going to have to park a good distance away, this truck is still unknown to anyone who’s hunting for us, we need to keep it that way. We’ll park a few blocks away and go in on foot. Make sure you have bags or cases for any weapons we are taking, I don’t want to draw any attention on the way.”

  It was six-thirty, time was starting to slow down for Bill, now that the meeting was getting ever closer. His pulse was up and he was beginning to feel a little uneasy, it was a good plan, but with a number of variables.

  “Let’s move out!”

  They climbed into the truck and headed for the yard. Bill pulled up in a quiet spot a few blocks away as he said he would, it was a good place for the truck, next to a couple of wrecked cars, it was so dirty it blended in. They pulled out two cases each from the trunk, without saying a word, each being well aware of the plan.

  It was a few minutes to seven when they arrived at the yard. Without the headlights of their truck it was a sinister and dark location, only lit lightly by the moon. To Harriet it didn’t matter, being a Vampire she could see perfectly well in the darkness, but to Bill it felt an imposing location. He walked up to the office and fired up the generator, the yard immediately lit up by the floodlights.

  “We have enough gas to run those for a few hours, the ambient noise will also convenient.”

  “Using your bike as bait, Bill?”

  “I don’t like it either, but better than putting myself out there.”

  Marshall pulled out his cell phone and hit the speed dial button for Kingston. The Bishop answered the first time he had ever done so. He must have been impatiently waiting for the call.

  “This is Williams.”

  Marshall read off the co-ordinates to the Bishop.”

  “That’s in the old industrial works right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Bill, I have to warn you. I want you to come in peacefully and resolve all of this, but I cannot take any chances, if you screw us around you will have to deal with the consequences.”

  “You just keep your part of the deal,” Bill said.

  He put the phone down. The Bishop looked to Bradley who stood eagerly awaiting the news. The Bishop handed him a memo with the co-ordinates.

  “I want to be ready to leave within a few minutes. We need to be there early and I want every inch covered, make sure we have those sharpshooters with us.”

  Bradley nodded and walked out of the room to make preparations. The Bishop walked back through to his office and looked out of his window where he’d spent so much time standing there speculating on so many difficult matters. This was the worst. Marshall had been his best asset and he hated Rainer for making him do what he had to do, but he couldn’t see any other option.

  * * *

  “Alright, you see that window up there?” asked Bill.

  “On the ground floor?” asked Harriet.

  “Yeah, that’s where I want you, I will be on the opposite side.”

  “Don’t we want to get higher up?”

  “No, the Bishop’s shooters will look for high ground, as well as Rainer’s if they turn up. Taking the ground floor positions will give us the best chance of staying concealed and the best escape routes. Be aware that any number of men could enter either of our buildings looking for shooting positions down onto the yard, so stay out of sight until we are ready.”

  “I am still not totally sure of what is happening here.”

  “Just trust me. On my go, I want you to put a bullet into whichever side is facing you, I will do the same if we have to. Once we have caused enough chaos, bug out as quietly and carefully as you can, we’ll meet back at the truck, lockup failing that.”

  “Ok, sure you know what you’re doing here?”

  “As much as anyone can.”

  “That’s reassuring.”

&nb
sp; “Alright, take up position now, they could be here anytime in the next ten minutes!”

  * * *

  The phone on Rainer’s desk rang, he snatched it up, desperately waiting for news.

  “Sir, a convoy has just left Kingston, three trucks, the Bishop’s car is one of them,” said Meyers.

  “Alright, follow them, but don’t give yourself away, I’ll call in a few minutes when we’re on the road for more information on your location.”

  “Anton! How many guys have we got here?”

  “Eight.”

  “Alright, get them together now, we’re heading out!”

  * * *

  It felt like a painfully long wait for the Bishop to arrive. Finally, at ten to eight he could hear the rumble of several vehicles heading towards them. They turned down the alleyway and came to a halt in the yard. At the head of the column was the Bishop’s personal Cadillac Escalade. Bill watched from his carefully chosen position as ten men got out from the vehicles, all but the Bishop were heavily armed.

  The Bishop looked out around the site and to the Harley parked up beside the generator. He had long associated Bill with bikes, and even though it wasn’t the same bike he used to see Marshall riding, he couldn’t tell the difference.

  “Bill! Bill, are you in there?”

  He got no response, but was alerted to the sound of vehicles rolling on down the track to the yard. Several of the men turned and held their weapons in ready to receive the vehicles clearly not expected by the Bishop’s men.

  Two vehicles rolled on into the yard and parked up opposite the Kingston vehicles. The doors opened and Karl Rainer stepped out with his seven men, as well equipped as the Kingston soldiers.

  “Rainer? What the hell are you doing here?”

  “You are meeting Marshall, I am here to make sure it goes down right,” said Rainer.

  “He had promised to come in peacefully, but only to me!”

  “Peacefully? What is wrong with you? This was never going to end peacefully, if you haven’t got the balls to get the job done properly then I will!”