Pale Death

by Aimée Thurlo

  Diane fired twice with her pistol. Lee could see the dust kick up from the bullet impact on the back of Tanner’s vest as he ducked into the bedroom. The vampire kicked the door shut behind him, and Lee’s next shot was probably wasted, holing the door.

  “Those should have penetrated his vest, Lee,” Diane shouted, picking her way farther into the room around big pieces of the old door frame and fallen ceiling panels. “Let’s finish him off.”

  Lee saw the assault rifle on the floor among shattered chunks of wood, sheetrock, and a half dozen or more shell casings. “He’s probably unarmed, but he’s still fast as hell and can grab our weapons if he gets close enough. And remember, the room has a window.”

  There was a small pop, then a crackle and new sounds and smells came to life. Lee stepped back just as the hood of the van blew up with a whoosh, shooting flames out six feet in all directions.

  Diane was knocked back a few steps, but she’d thrown her arm up to cover her eyes and escaped being scorched. “Whoa. We’ve got to get out of here before the gas tank goes up.”

  “I’ll cover the bedroom door. Once you get out, go around to the bedroom window and keep watch. If you see his face or he tries to break out …”

  “Right.” Diane picked her way past Lee and hastily around the front of the van, keeping as much distance as she could from the cooking engine compartment. The smoke was getting thick and harsh already, but she moved quickly. A few more seconds and she squeezed through the gap between the side of the vehicle and the caved-in wall, disappearing.

  Lee saw the bedroom doorknob turn, so he fired three shots, one down low, and another to either side. Tanner yelled, and the doorknob stopped moving.

  Then Lee backed out of the room, stumbling twice on debris because he didn’t want to take his eye off the door. The flames were rising higher now in the engine compartment, the black smoke filling the room. Feeling his way the last seven or eight feet, Lee hugged the side of the van and slipped out onto the porch.

  Hoping he had at least a few more seconds, Lee stuck the Browning into his belt, then leaned against the van and pushed as hard as he could. It only rolled another three feet before the rear wheel touched the porch step and stopped, but the intrusion would increase the chances that the exploding gas took down the building quickly and completely.

  Lee’s cell phone began to vibrate, but he took several steps back away from the porch before answering it. “Yeah. What?”

  “I had to make sure you got out, but didn’t want Tanner to know,” Diane said. “I’ve moved back some more, but I haven’t seen him at the window. Think the van is going to blow soon?”

  “It can’t be long now.”

  “Lee, the foundation looks pretty solid. Suppose there’s a basement?”

  “Crap. Maybe. And Tanner is strong enough to rip up the floorboards if he can get something to pry with.”

  “Like a metal rail from the bed?”

  “Better keep an eye on the crawl space. It’s got some cinder blocks in the way, but Tanner will be able to push them aside without much trouble if he can get beneath the floor.”

  “Gotcha.”

  Lee noticed that the fire inside had spread to the curtains and the splintered lumber from the door and exposed wall studs. The house was going to burn down, that was certain. He turned his head slightly, trying to hear the sirens of approaching backup and rescue units, but got nothing.

  Still watching the shattered entrance to the cabin, especially the gap between the van and the structure, Lee moved back farther now. He wanted to take a look at the wounded former hostage, but was still afraid to look away from the cabin for even a second in case Tanner decided to make a break for it. “Kind of strange, hoping the fire department doesn’t get here soon,” Lee said.

  “I know what you mean, but …”

  The van’s gas tank exploded, flinging wood, metal, plastic, and glass out like a Mount St. Helens eruption—all in one direction. The heat and force of the blast knocked Lee down. He’d seen just a brief flash before the explosion, however, and was turning away when the full force arrived, so he fell facedown. Flying debris landed all around, smaller chunks whistling overhead, and there were several clanks of metal as pieces bounced off Diane’s car. Hopefully the former hostage was well enough protected by the vehicle.

  Somehow he’d managed to keep the cell phone in his grip. Sitting up and looking toward the raging inferno of van and cabin, which was totally engulfed now, Lee spoke. “You okay? Diane?”

  He stood and began to walk quickly toward the rear of the cabin. Tanner wasn’t coming out the front, that was certain. “Diane?”

  “Lee, help. Tanner!” Then he heard gunshots.

  He raced toward the rear of the cabin, switching the Browning to his left hand and pulling out his .45 with his right. Rounding the back corner, he saw Diane kneeling on the ground, pistol in hand, aimed toward an opening in the foundation. Several cinder blocks had been pushed or blown away.

  “I’m okay. Tanner pushed the blocks out, and I managed to get enough angle to shoot him in the arm and maybe the shoulder. He ducked back inside.” She stood, wiping at her eyes with a sleeve. “Got soot in my eyes, or dust from the blast. Knocked me on my butt.”

  “You held your own. That’s a win. Why don’t you take a walk around the cabin to make sure he doesn’t try a walk-through-fire stunt, then check on the wounded man and our backup. I’ll make sure Tanner doesn’t come out alive.”

  “Want my pistol? There are still three or four AP rounds in the clip.” She held out the weapon, watching the house instead of him.

  “Naw. Keep it and the shotgun. I just wish we had something more explosive than those flash bangs. Maybe a fragmentation grenade.”

  “Won’t need it once the house collapses—if the heat and fumes don’t get him first,” Diane said. “I’d better get around to the other side.” She turned and jogged away, carrying the shotgun in front of her with both hands, ready.

  Lee only glanced away for a few seconds and was able to detect movement in the crawl space as Tanner sneaked a look. Six feet above, flames licked at the bedroom window, and higher, the roof was yellow-orange, shooting sparks into the sky. It was getting hot in the cabin.

  Wondering what the chances were that the cloud of sparks drifting away would set off a forest fire, Lee inched toward the crawl space. Closer now, he could see floor joists and the support piers, but the vampire was hugging the foundation wall, hidden from sight.

  “Come out, Tanner, you’ve been through enough. Let’s end it. I’ll make it quick,” Lee yelled, getting down on one knee, inching even closer to the wall but still keeping some distance in case Tanner had found a tool or something to jab at him.

  “If they can find me, Hawk, they’ll find you. Think on that,” Tanner said, his voice faint and hollow in the enclosed space. “Give me a way out and you’ll never see me again. We’re like brothers, you and me. The same, really.”

  “Don’t include me in your family, Tanner. We’re not even close to alike. You killed a lot of people who had nothing to do with your situation. Good people with families who just happened to get in your way.”

  “I had no choice. It was them or me. And Victor Wayne’s people … those doctors you’re defending? They set me on fire so they could time how long it took me to heal up again. What would you have done?”

  Lee had seen several vampires explode into flames, and heard their screams cut short as they literally disintegrated. It wasn’t something to talk about.

  The fire and smoke were getting worse, and Tanner started a long coughing spasm. Finally he stopped. “Let me go and I’ll just disappear. I’ll hide it better this time.” His voice was a mere whisper now.

  Lee could finally hear sirens in the distance, and he was grateful. Hopefully one of the vehicles was from a fire department. If the wind picked up, a lot of forest would burn down, and he didn’t want that to add to an overburdened conscience.

  He’d already
decided Tanner wasn’t coming out alive, even if that meant he’d have to crawl inside and kill him up close. The former cook, restaurant owner, and hunter had become a mass murderer. Certifiably insane, Tanner would keep killing, as he’d shown with even the innocent.

  “Time’s up, Tanner. I can kill you, or let the smoke and flames do it for me. Your choice.”

  Hot winds generated by the swirling fire started whipping up dust and debris, and Lee thought he heard Tanner say something. Lee stepped closer, still wary.

  “I’m afraid of fire, Hawk. Don’t let me die like this. Give me your pistol. One shot in the heart. I’ll do it myself. No guilt for you either.”

  “What makes you think I’d feel guilty? Just move into view. I’ll have no problem. How many did you kill—today? Eight?”

  Another minute went by, then Tanner spoke again. “Will you do one thing for me, then, Hawk … after I’m dead?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Kill Victor Wayne. He made me what … I’ve become.”

  “You weren’t the first vampire to end up as a guinea pig. But there are a few of us around that want to make sure you’re the last. That’s all I can promise you.”

  The noise from the sirens grew closer and Lee could hear vehicles, especially the deep rumble of a fire engine. He reached down, released the clip from the Browning, then quickly thumbed out all the rounds before inserting it back into the butt of the pistol. He tossed the pistol into the opening, then stood back, his .45 aimed at the spot. “There’s still one round in the chamber, Tanner. Aim for your heart, and don’t miss. I’m leaving you in there, either way.”

  “Fuck you very much, Hawk.”

  “You too, vampire.” Lee took another step back. A blood-soaked hand reached out for the Browning, then disappeared from sight.

  Out of the corner of his eye Lee saw Diane standing to his left, well back, looking in his direction. Her shotgun was still ready.

  A few seconds went by, Lee heard what could have been a sob, then the gunshot.

  Lee moved closer, his forty-five still ready in case Tanner was trying to fool him one last time. Then a low rumble started to build, the sound increasing quickly. Lee stood and stepped back in a hurry. With an enormous cracking roar, what was left of the roof came tumbling down, collapsing the weakened walls. The ground shook, and all they could see through the crawl space opening were flames and billowing smoke.

  It was ten in the morning, and Lee sat in a big government SUV, reapplying sunblock. Tanner’s body hadn’t been found yet, but it was no surprise to him. Even a dead vampire’s remains turned to ashes when the sun came up. When the forensics people and the firemen uncovered the spot where the body was, once the ruins cooled enough to sift through, it would flash into a powder. The next heavy rain, Tanner’s ashes would become just another few pounds of sediment carried down to the river a quarter mile away. Or perhaps he’d end up in a landfill along with the charred remains of the cabin.

  Lee didn’t know if a vampire could suffocate from the smoke and toxic fumes, but he did know it was possible to hold his breath a long time. He’d made himself pass out years ago in a half-assed experiment. The reports back at the research lab on the Rez hadn’t documented any respiratory experiments conducted on Stewart Tanner, so it was a question that would go unanswered. But fire was definitely a yes.

  The vampire was gone now, and even if the lack of a body extended the search, it probably wouldn’t last long. Lee’s musings were brought to reality again when the car door opened.

  “Set to take another walk through the forest to satisfy the skeptics who insist on finding Tanner’s remains?” Diane asked. Her hair was tucked up into a baseball cap, she had a canteen on her waist, and she looked exhausted.

  “Yeah. Beats sifting through burning rubble. But let’s insist on the river this time. I’m still hot from last night.”

  Ten minutes later, after a climb down a steep trail, Lee stood in the shade of the cliff beside the river, looking for a cave or overhang on the opposite bank that could theoretically contain a hiding vampire. Diane had a handheld infrared scope that would detect heat. Together, they believed no living creature could escape their scrutiny, especially one as large as Stewart Tanner. Besides, he’d died beneath the cabin.

  “Dr. Wayne still a no-show on the search?”

  Diane lowered the scope. “While you were putting on more sun protection, I got a call on my cell. According to Farmington PD, Dr. Victor Wayne took off for Albuquerque on a chartered plane with the federal agent that was wounded at the model home fiasco. The patient is headed for the University Hospital there. At least he’s going to make it.”

  “Doesn’t seem right that Tanner and so many others paid with their lives and Victor’s still alive and kicking.”

  “He’ll get his. I have a feeling that in the mad scramble of bureaucrats out to cover their own butts, Victor’ll get offered up as a sacrifice to the families of the victims. But I wonder how many people really knew what was going on with Tanner and the research? And how are the government honchos going to justify all the casualties resulting from trying to keep control of a self-proclaimed vampire?”

  “That’s their problem now.” Lee looked down at the river, then started walking slowly upstream. “If I’d have made it to the river, I’d have gone this way.”

  Diane followed his gaze. “You believe Tanner faked his suicide, lasted out the fire, then somehow made it to the river before daylight?”

  “No. But you’re going to have a person watching Marci Walker for a while, aren’t you? Just in case? She knew he was a vampire, and they were lovers—for a while.”

  “Yeah. And if Tanner can come back from the dead for anyone, it’ll be for Marci. Crazy or not, she swears he loved her.”

  Lee turned to look at the beautiful woman walking beside him. “Yeah, vampires are people too.”

  ALSO BY DAVID & AIMEÉE THURLO

  ELLA CLAH NOVELS

  Blackening Song

  Death Walker

  Bad Medicine

  Enemy Way

  Shooting Chant

  Red Mesa

  Changing Woman

  Tracking Bear

  Wind Spirit

  White Thunder

  LEE NEZ NOVELS

  Second Sunrise

  Blood Retribution

  SISTER AGATHA NOVELS

  Bad Faith

  Thief in Retreat

  Plant Them Deep

  This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this novel are either fictitious or are used fictitiously

  PALE DEATH

  Copyright © 2005 by David and Aimée Thurlo

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.

  A Forge Book

  Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

  175 Fifth Avenue

  New York, NY 10010

  www.tor-forge.com

  Forge® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

  eISBN 9781466815711

  First eBook Edition : March 2012

  EAN 978-0-765-31385-0

  First Edition: October 2005