I sat taken back for a second. It was such a direct way of asking. “Well, I don’t know, are we?”
“I’ll forgive you for the interview room debacle, if you forgive me for calling you out about worrying,” she offered.
“Fair enough.” I held out my hand, and we shook on it. “You know I don’t really play pool.”
“Then you get to fetch drinks,” she said with a smile.
We walked into the dark smoke filled building together, but a second later she said “beers” and pointed me toward the bar. The place was the twin of the one I’d seen destroyed earlier in the week—the one Chris probably turned into a pile of ashes and soot. This one started life as a nice country bar, but now it showed its age. There were bare wood floors with a bit of grime and more than a few worn spots. Above the bar a mirror decorated with pool cues and balls reflected the five billiard tables behind me. To the side of me, a dozen tables stood in a loose pattern, and that was it. The building was a single square giving the impression of two rooms because of the placement of the bathrooms.
The bartender looked friendly enough; older with bleached blonde hair and a black bra strap showing under her white t-shirt. It was cold outside, but she was only wearing that long sleeved cotton shirt. I suspected the place was going to fill with warm people in a few minutes, but for now there were only a handful of us.
“Uh, I need three beers,” I said, stumbling. E hadn’t mentioned a brand. The bartender didn’t seem to notice. She filled three glasses with whatever came out of the tap. I paid her the six dollars she asked for and another two beside for a tip. She tucked it into her bra, her hand snaking through her shirt with practiced ease, all while the cigarette dangling from her lip barely bounced.
Predictably, E had chosen the table farthest back in the room. I found her there, hunched over the green felt. I put the beer glasses down on the small table underneath the chalk board. I was getting the real pool hall experience, whether I wanted it or not.
“Mallory, Bess. Bess, Mallory.” E didn’t look up from lining up her shot. I’d watched people pool once or twice in my college years, but this game looked more serious than anything I’d encountered. The woman E had introduced had rich ebony skin and wide dark eyes.
“Pleasure,” she said in a warm British accent. Above her head was a mass of rich thick curls. I pulled my eyes from its controlled insanity back to her face. She switched her pool cue to other hand to shake mine, and I was struck by the smell of dirt—thick black dirt freshly dug up. When she let go of my hand the scent stopped.
“Earth witch?” I asked.
“Right.” The British accent threw me. “And you’re…what? Can’t place it.”
“Death.” I waited for her to step backward and cross herself.
“Brilliant.” She turned away from me. “Stay away from seven ball wench.”
“I’m sorry. I thought you two were having social hour,” E said sweetly. She took a long slow shot and spun the seven ball to the middle of the table far from any of the pockets. They were equally matched pool players, and after a few rounds the object of the game switched from getting their balls into the pockets to knocking each other out of the way. A cutthroat game in a seedy pool hall, I never thought I’d watch one. Seeing the two women knock the balls around and trade jabs was surprisingly interesting, but not enough that I missed the vampire who walked up to us.
“You came,” he said to E.
“I told you vampires don’t scare us, especially not baby ones like you.” E’s tone was a shade closer to mean than teasing.
“Oh, I’ll show you how manly I can be.” He grabbed a pool cue off the wall. “Who’s this?”
“I’m Mallory.” I wasn’t sure how she’d introduce me, and I didn’t want to risk something crazy. The vampire was younger, younger than Amadeus. I pushed the thought out of my mind the minute it entered. I promised myself not to think about that particular vampire, for the rest of the night. “But I’m just for looks, I don’t play pool.”
“I’ll teach you,” he said. The overtly sexual smile he offered me looked out of place on his young face. His short brown hair was waxed into a silly would-be-mohawk without shaving the sides of his head, a fauxhawk maybe? He’d let his eyes go red. I’d only seen Jakob look like that a handful of times, and each one was linked to something dangerous. The biggest danger at the pool room was waking up the next morning regretting ever having been here.
“Why don’t you tell me your name first?” I was never any good at flirting.
“Chris,” he said, rubbing the blue chalk on the tip of the cue. I was pretty certain he was the Chris I was after, but I couldn’t arrest him for anything, and there wasn’t a good way to drag him down to the station for questions. Instead, we played pool in teams, Chris and I against the two of them. Chris took every chance he got to “instruct” me in the proper way to hold a pool cue or hit the ball. It was obvious from the minute he started that every line had a double meaning. After the way Jakob reacted to Mark touching my hand at dinner, I was fairly sure Chris wouldn’t live to see another sunset if my boyfriend found us leaning against the table with his arms wrapped around me. After one particularly long lecture, delivered via whisper right into my ear, I felt compelled to get back to the fact finding part of this outing.
“You don’t seem too scared by witches,” I said with a smile.
“I’m hoping to be better friends with a few of them by the end of the night.” His smile was a leer directed at the other women.
“You think you can handle us?” Bess cooed.
“I can handle you in ways you’ve never seen before baby,” he boasted.
“I don’t know, fire witches can get pretty hot in bed.” E let her fingers walk along his bare arm, a touch of blue fire at their tips.
“I’ve been there, done that, and trust me she liked it.” He licked his lips at her touch, obviously hungry for more. E and Bess kept their eye rolls where only I could see them.
“She liked it?” E finished walking around me to get back to Bess, standing next to the other woman with her arm over her shoulder. The two of them looked like every man’s fantasy: sexy lesbians who wanted him but only after they had each other. “So there’s someone at home for us to play with?”
Bess bent over to take her shot, thanks to the angle you could see down her blouse. The lacy white bra showed against her dark skin. She caught me looking and I blushed, but she winked back at me. They were playing with him, enjoying the effect they had on him.
“Maybe not the first time, but if you promise to be good, I might introduce you to her.”
Bess frowned dramatically and walked over to the side of the table to lean next to him. “But baby, I’m never good. I’m always naughty.”
“Naughty can be good.” He dropped his pool cue. They’d gone too far; there was no way anyone could be dumb enough to believe that over the top line. His eyes were locked on hers, for a long minute he did nothing but stare. “Uh, whose turn is it?”
“You’re up,” E said, gesturing to the pool cue beside him. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing.
We wrapped the evening up a little before the bar turned the lights on at two a.m. Chris hadn’t done anything incriminating, and he also hadn’t mentioned Kelly in anyway. E was right that I wasn’t entirely sure he was the guy I was looking for. He could’ve been any young vampire named Chris. The only thing I could arrest him for tonight was bad taste. He offered at least half a dozen times to go home with us. When E protested that her mother told her never to bring a strange vampire home, he offered to get a hotel room so we’d all feel safe.
Bess mentioned his place, but he dodged her. We were in the parking lot when I realized my chance at getting any more information was slipping away. I let the other two women get into the car, grabbed an old receipt and a pencil, then started to back out. E adjusted the rearview mirror. Stay where I can see you, her look said and I nodded my agreement. I ran back to where Chri
s was trying to look cool.
“Could I,” I deliberately hesitated trying to remember my awkward junior high days. “Could I get your number? I’d love to find you again.”
“Sure, baby.” He scribbled without looking away from my breasts. I hoped the numbers would be legible. “I used to work down at Fairy Tails, but these days I’m more of a free agent.”
“What about that girl you left at home?” The link to Fairy Tails was probably enough to bring him in. Probably, but I hoped he said Kelly’s name.
“Don’t worry about her.” He gave me a wink as he passed back the paper “What are you anyway? I’ve been trying to put my finger on it all night.”
“Just another witch,” I said.
“I knew that, beautiful, what kind?”
“Death.” His already pale face went even more colorless, and his hand dropped. A second later he wasn’t standing there at all. Maybe he’d been scared of a death witch, or maybe he’d realized I was cop. After spending a few hours with Chris, I wasn’t sure if he was my arsonist or just a dumb kid.
Chapter Seventeen
Mark
Mark threw the marshmallow with a sigh. Someday the park rangers were going to catch on to why this particular piece of swamp had so many friendly well-fed alligators. Until then it was his favorite place to dispose of things that were better off never found. Feeding the gators made that easier. He tossed the last treat toward the smallest one, a three-foot-long gator he’d developed an odd attachment too. He heard something coming and immediately tensed, then relaxed as he recognized Jakob’s wide footsteps and the feeling of power that came from him.
“How was hunting?” Mark asked as the other man dropped a body down on the dock.
“I wasn’t hunting.”
“Oh my, then what did he do? Underage prostitution? Kidnapping? Rape?” His friend had a complex moral system, but after a few centuries Mark boiled it down: do something Jakob considered wrong and he killed you.
“All of that and he won a car in a church raffle.”
“That’s a new one.”
“It brought him to my attention.” Jakob slipped the body into the water.
“And here I thought you were going soft.”
“Never. I might let the SIU deal with the occasional vampire, but this is still my town.”
“Glad to hear it.” Mark tucked the marshmallow bag into his pocket. “What will happen to the car?”
“It still belongs to the church; they’re going to give it to Mallory. The felon decided he’d rather take his prize as cash.”
“Did that happen before or after?” Mark waved a hand to where the alligators made quick work of the remains.
“Before. At my attorney’s office. Everything was completely above board. I bought the car from the church, they gave him the money, the attorney witnessed everything.”
“And then?”
“And then, after enough time, I ensured he wouldn’t use the money to purchase another six-year-old boy.”
Mark swallowed hard, knowing how painful the idea would be to his old friend. He quickly changed the subject. “What made the church call you?”
“It’s complicated, but Mallory wanted the car.”
“So how is it going to get to her? If it’s not perfect, she’ll poke it at like a sore tooth.”
“The church will tell her she won. My name won’t even be mentioned.” Jakob sat down on the dock, his eyes on the false dawn.
“It’ll be light soon.” Mark guessed what he was thinking.
“A better day brought about because of a worse night.” Jakob sounded somber, and Mark struggled with a way to distract him.
“Speaking of Mallory, I was supposed to ask about some woman you’re going after, there was another man involved but I’m forgetting the details.”
“It’s already done.”
“I suspected as much, any trouble?” Mark hadn’t ignored Mallory’s request; he just wasn’t worried the way she was.
“None, it barely made me late for work.”
“And like most of these things they all died in the end?”
“All but one. I let the him feed, he needed the strength.” Jakob’s lips quirked up in a half-smile. “It’s been years since someone asked me to aid their vengeance.”
“Since me at least,” Mark agreed, remembering his desperation to punish the werewolves who killed his family centuries ago. “You going to let him live?”
“Perhaps, he seems like a decent man and smart enough not to get in my way for the last sixty years.” Jakob stood up, his eyes still on the horizon.
“Sounds like you actually respect him.” Mark marveled at the idea that his old friend would find an acceptable vampire.
“I haven’t found a reason not to yet. He’s made it past one hundred.”
“So few do, so few do,” Mark said, with false sympathy.
“Exactly. I told Mallory not to worry.”
“Ahh, women…” Mark said. The two men shared a silence for a moment. “When are you going to marry her?” He knew Jakob well enough that he didn’t need to ask if, only when.
“I asked twice but she doesn’t hear me. Modern women…” Jakob raked his hand through his short hair, a gesture that usually signaled his frustration.
“She’ll hear what you’re asking when she’s ready to answer.” He stood up and looked at Jakob. His friend would spend the next hour on the dock, risking the sunrise to contemplate what he was saying wrong without ever realizing that it wasn’t him. “Come on, I want to see this car.”
“Actually, it’s a Jeep,” Jakob said with a ghost of a smile.
Chapter Eighteen
After E dropped me off, I showered, climbed into bed, and instantly fell asleep. But no matter when I fell asleep, I tended to wake up at three a.m., death’s hour. I willed myself back to sleep instead of thinking about what that meant about who I was when I heard a key click in the lock to my apartment—3:01, I was awake and Jakob was coming home.
“Are you awake, darling?” He came upstairs so silently he might have been flying. In the darkness I couldn’t tell.
“Yes. Come to bed.” Earlier I’d wanted him, now I wanted him to comfort me. In the middle of the night it was easy to feel out of place and wrong. I’d had Chris next to me all night, and I hadn’t arrested him. Maybe I’d screwed up; maybe I was a screw up. In the early morning hours, it felt like I made a thousand mistakes. I let Jakob hold me in the dark, his presence soothing me.
I slept better with him there, woke up in time to catch the alarm before it went off. In the morning, it felt like my mistakes didn’t matter, and the things were looking up. My step had an extra bounce to it as I dressed and there was a smile on my face as I copied the note with Chris’ number at least three times. Sure, it was paranoid but after three arsons, two deaths, and an attack on the SIU, I was okay with paranoia. I took the original old receipt in with me to work. It stayed safely in the pocket of my suit jacket as I bought not one but two boxes of donuts. Today Chris was going to be found, he’d turn out to be our guy, and the case would be over, a little pre-celebrating never hurt anyone.
Danny was already at his desk, so I took the paper from my pocket, unfolded it neatly, and put it in front of him on my way to the break room.
“What’s that?”
“Oh, nothing much,” I said lightly. “But it might be a phone number for the lead suspect in our arson case.”
Danny sat with his mouth gaping.
“You’re welcome,” I said with a smile.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to explore it right off. The attack on the SIU meant there was a briefing with Lieutenant French and a number of other important people who were somehow key to my work even though I’d never met them before. Fieraru, the ass from Internal Affairs, was there. He gave me a smile that made my skin not just crawl away but get up and walk out of the room. I struggled not to be disrespectful as we sat in a cramped conference room and went over everything we knew
for people who hadn’t cared until it made them look bad.
Permission to call the cell phone was granted, resources for finding Chris and Kelly were going to be made available, and everyone expressed their desire to do all they could to help. The briefing broke up before lunch. Lieutenant French sent us on our way with a promise that he’d get the details worked out while we ate.
There were a lot of details to work out. The SIU wasn’t in the wiretapping business. Our surveillance usually involved a summoning star, incense, and some sacred salt. When it came down to the nuts and bolts of police work we relied on the good graces of our neighbors one floor down: narcotics. Sure, they’d been reluctant to give me the file on Chris and Kelly, but a chance to play with the wiretapping toys? You would have thought we asked for volunteers to investigate a donut shop.
Our lieutenant spent some time on the phone with their lieutenant. Then there was some general chatting. Finally, after one, they took us into an interview room that looked completely familiar, only it was filled with unfamiliar equipment and cords winding every which way.
“What do I do?” I asked one of the lucky volunteers.
“Call on that phone.” He pointed to a very large brick of plastic in front of me. “We need time to trace the call, the more you keep him on the phone the better the trace. But if it’s a cell phone, we’ll only get an area.”
“How long do you need?”
“Just talk, try to be natural, and remember if you don’t keep them on the phone long enough we’ve got nothing, and they might run again.”
I dialed the number with shaky fingers. It was day time on another sunny fall day, Chris probably wasn’t awake. Then again, he might not be our Chris. I counted on Kelly to answer, which would cinch that he was the vampire we were looking for. I hoped she’d be the more rational, sane member of the pair. The phone rang four times then went to voice mail. I was treated to recorded rendition of Chris’ obnoxious voice in my ear. I slammed the phone down frustrated. Everyone in the room looked at me.
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