Immortal Revenge

by Abshire, Mary

  “Whether it was her or someone else, they’re skills surpassed Debbie’s. We have to be prepared,” Steven said.

  “It’s two of us against one vampire and one human. We can rip the vamp to shreds, then feast on the human.”

  If Katie wasn’t the vampire, then they had one vampire and two humans coming to their party. In either scenario, they out numbered the visiting vamp. The battle wouldn’t last long.

  “Did you move the Mr. and Mrs. to the freezer?” Steven asked.

  “Yeah, I took care of them earlier.”

  Steven grinned as he pictured the image of the dead couple sitting together in their large freezer, surrounded by everything they worked hard to achieve. He wondered how much time would go by before someone would find them. On the bright side, they wouldn’t have to worry about the smell of decay once the bodies froze.

  “What about the girl?” Brandon asked. “I didn’t touch her.”

  “Leave her. I enjoy the sight of her.”

  “But we’re not going to need her anymore.” Brandon rose and gripped the rail. “Finally done.”

  “I may need her one more time. Even if we leave her there, her memory is clean. She doesn’t have a clue what’s happened over the last couple of days.”

  Brandon descended the steps, then rounded the staircase. “So, what’s the plan since we’ll be facing a vampire? Are we double-teaming, or can I take care of the vamp?”

  His cocky grin annoyed Steven, but the arrogant attitude seemed to help him win his battles. Brandon would need all the confidence he could muster since the vamp he would soon face had far better fighting skills than his last girlfriend.

  “You can handle the vampire. I will take care of the human.”

  “Save some blood for me. I may need to recharge after I cut Katie’s head off and rip out her heart.”

  The sound of gravel crunching under the weight of tires stole Steven’s attention. He shoved his hand up at Brandon. “Sh!”

  They both turned their heads to the door. The sound was coming closer, growing louder. A single vehicle didn’t make such a deep grinding noise.

  “What is it?” Brandon asked as he walked toward the thin, vertical window next to the door.

  Steven stood next to his partner and peered outside. Multiple cars and vans headed toward the house.

  “Fucking hell,” Steven said.

  “What the fuck? Police?”

  “The lights aren’t on.” An indication the police wanted to sneak up on them.

  Steven stepped back from the door. Fury rose while his mind worked overtime to calculate what was happening. The police, a shit load of them, were coming toward the house. Why? Who would’ve sent them to the orchard?

  Hearing a moan to his right, he turned his head. Joe moved his head slightly. His swollen eyes remained closed as another low sound spilled out of him.

  Brandon stomped toward him with his fists in tight balls. “That bitch went to the cops. It had to be Kyle’s girlfriend. She’s the only one you spoke to.”

  Rage boiled hotter than lava within his veins, causing his temples to pound. Did she think she could save Joe’s life by sending troops? She had a lot to learn.

  He stormed down the hall, heading for the kitchen.

  “Where are you going?” Brandon yelled.

  “Wait there.”

  Steven glanced at the countertops as he strode into the kitchen. Not finding what he wanted, he walked straight the cabinet drawers and pulled one after the other out. One drawer came completely off the rack and he let it fall to the floor. He tugged the handle on the next one and silverware clanked. His search was over. He dug for the largest knife and took it.

  Gripping the handle tightly, Steven strode back down the hall.

  Brandon glanced at the knife in his hand. “What’s that for?”

  He stopped in front of Joe. “This.” He thrust the knife deep into Joe’s stomach until it hit the wall, then he let go. The handle barely stood out. Blood coated Steven’s fingers. He wiped them on Joe’s shirt.

  “What about the cops? They’ll be here soon.” Panic made Brandon edgy. His words came out fast.

  “We can’t fight them.”

  “No fucking shit. There’s too many.”

  “Calm down.”

  “You want me to calm the fuck down when twenty cops are about to barge in here? What the fuck are we going to do?”

  “Act civil.”

  “Civil my ass.”

  Steven swung his fist and punched Brandon in the eye. The young man twisted and lost his balance from the force of the blow, but his fast footwork stopped him from falling.

  “Calm your fucking ass down and follow my lead.” Steven growled.

  “We know you have hostages in the house. Come out with your hands up.” A man shouted through a megaphone.

  Brandon straightened with his hand covering his injured eye.

  Steven shifted his weight from foot to foot. He’d never encountered such a tense situation. They couldn’t fight twenty men without one calling for back up or fleeing to gossip about two super-strong men. As for controlling their minds, they could only handle one person each. Although it wouldn’t take long to get inside a human’s mind and tinker with it, they didn’t have time to slip inside multiple heads without one getting away. Their vampire qualities made them superior to humans, but when faced with many of them, they risked exposure and that was unacceptable.

  Brandon sat on one of the stair steps. “What do we do?”

  “We wait a few more minutes.” Steven stepped closer to the door, but out of sight from the window. With the lights on in the house, the cops could easily see inside.

  “The longer we wait, the more they will believe we have hostages.”

  “It doesn’t matter at this point what they believe. We will have to go with them back to the station–”

  “Let them arrest us?” Brandon shot up from his sitting position.

  “We have to because we will have change all of this in their minds. The best way to do that is to let them take us to their headquarters. They’ll all be there, so we can work to clear this mess up.”

  “That’s a lot of fucking work.”

  Yes, it would be, but with all of them in one place, they could complete the job before sunrise.

  “Walk out now, or we will come inside to get you,” said the same voice through a bullhorn.

  “What about Katie and her friend?” Brandon asked.

  “I have a plan for them. Since she won’t show up willingly, we’ll have someone else find her and escort her to us.”

  “How are you going to manage that?”

  “You’ll see.”

  “Sixty seconds,” said the same voice from before.

  “All right. We walk out without a fight. We let them takes to their station. From there, we need to start altering their memories.”

  “Got it. And you’ll fill me in on your plan.”

  “Soon.” Steven nodded with a grin.

  Brandon brushed his hands over his shirt, straightening it. “Let’s do this.”

  Steven turned the knob and opened the door.

  “Hands up!” The voice shouted on the bullhorn.

  The clicks from safeties moving eerily sounded like crickets. Lights shined directly toward the house. Steven raised his arms above his head. He glanced over his shoulder to Brandon. His partner gave a single nod.

  Grinning, Steven faced the crowd of policemen and women. If Katie Dillinger thought she could get rid of him and Brandon by holding them in a jail cell with a police force guarding them, she would find out soon she was sorely mistaken. Vampire or not, his plan would work to bring her to him. And then, she could kiss the earth goodbye.

  23

  Katie paced in Andy’s office while holding the cell phone to her ear. The last time she glanced at Andy’s computer, the time had showed 12:35 p.m. She’d called the station and asked for Charles twice. So far, he hadn’t returned from the raid at the o
rchard, which ended quietly over a half hour ago. A touch of anxiety fueled her heart and steps. She wanted to know about the lives of Joe and the Jennings. Voices on the scanner confirmed they had indeed found bodies. Ambulances rushed them to the hospital, but beyond that, she had no idea if they were living or dead.

  “Mishawaka police department. How can I help you?” A female asked.

  “Charles Donahue, please,” Katie said.

  “One moment.”

  Katie stopped in the middle of the room. The receptionist’s answer differed from the two times. Maybe the officers had finally returned to the station.

  Jules stood a few feet from the equipment, one arm wrapped around her ribs. She chewed on her nails and held a dazed look in her red eyes. She’d cried off on and on for the last forty-five minutes. Katie wondered how much longer she could last before collapsing, but knew Jules would hold out as long as possible to find out if Joe’s status.

  Riker sat quietly on the sofa with his arms raised and fingers threaded behind his head. The vamp had interrupted her several times while she provided more of an explanation of the situation to Andy. She’d briefly mentioned the Order and the four categories of vampires. Surprisingly, Riker stayed silent during that part.

  “Ma’am?” the receptionist asked.

  “Yes, I’m here,” Katie said.

  “May I ask your name please?”

  “Katie Dillinger.”

  “Hold, please.”

  Andy swiveled in his chair to face Katie. His calm and accepting response to her explanation had surprised her some. The questions he’d asked were logical and calculating. Not once did she suspect curiosity or fear from him. Maybe his marine background gave him the ability to rationalize things instead of looking at details from fiction and picking apart pieces. In Katie’s mind, the ex-marine made for a strong ally.

  “Katie?” Officer Donahue asked.

  “Charles, how was the raid?” She pretended she hadn’t heard about it from the scanner.

  “It went smoothly. None of the officers were hurt. Two men surrendered to us.”

  “Did you find the hostages?” Katie strolled toward the sofa, then turned and sat on the wide armrest.

  “We did, unfortunately.”

  “Are they safe now?”

  A lengthy pause signaled bad news in her mind.

  “Katie, I can’t really discuss details.”

  She stood and stiffened. “Officer Donahue, with all due respect, Julie and I tipped you off. We’re entitled to know the status of her boyfriend at the very least.”

  Jules walked toward her. She pressed her quivering lips together. Clearly, she was fighting back the tears, but the dam would break soon.

  Charles sighed heavily into the phone. “He’s at the main hospital.”

  His deep tone suggested he knew more and the news was bad.

  Katie stared into Jules’s teary eyes. “Can we visit him?”

  “You can try, but the nurses might not let you.”

  She grinned at Jules and a spark of life and hope blossomed on her best friend’s face.

  “Thank you, Charles. I have one more question.” She turned to face Riker. “Are you holding the kidnappers?”

  “Yes, we’re processing them as we speak. They won’t be harming anyone for a long time.”

  Though he spoke with confidence in his tone, Katie knew the truth. The two vampires would walk freely from the station before sunrise. As far as hurting other humans, she hoped to destroy them before they could get the chance.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “I should be thanking you, Katie.”

  “Bye, Charles.”

  She ended the call, then dropped the phone on the sofa cushion. “Looks like my plan is working.”

  “So far,” Riker said dryly.

  “Did he say we could visit Joe?” Jules said, her tone dripping with excitement.

  “He said we could.”

  “Can we?” Shot out of Jules’s mouth.

  “Not a good idea,” Riker said.

  “I would agree with him,” Andy said, coming to join the party as they stood in front of Riker. “The two vampires will expect you to go there.”

  “They’re stuck in processing and they have to clean minds,” Katie said. “If there was a time for Jules to visit, now is it while the two vampires are busy.”

  “Please?” Jules begged with a whimper.

  Andy gave a single shake of his head. “It’s risky. One of them could stay behind and send the other to the hospital.”

  Katie liked the way her boss thought, but disliked he argued against her choice instead of for her.

  Riker lowered his arms. “If one shows up, one is easier to destroy than two.”

  From the short time she’d known Riker, she suspected he wasn’t the type of person to concede easily. However, he seemed to be doing it. Perhaps he saw opportunity.

  “I have rings in my purse, but I don’t have any daggers,” Katie said with her arms half outstretched.

  “I have a few I could loan you,” Andy said.

  “Here?”

  He twisted and headed for his desk. Katie followed and watched as he removed keys from his pocket. They clinked together as he unlocked the drawer. Bent over, he lifted his gaze. “Do you need them with sheaths and straps?”

  “Preferably. I don’t have a jacket, so anything I can strap to my calf will have do.”

  He opened the drawer and removed the contents. After he set them on the desk, he lifted the flooring or what appeared as the floorboard of the drawer, then set it aside. A couple of sheathed knives, blades and wood box were waiting inside the secret hiding space. He took a blade and one of the sheathed knives.

  “Do you know how to use these?” Katie asked as he handed them to her.

  He chuckled. “I was a marine. I killed people with different weapons and my bare hands.”

  Katie pressed a small button on the blade and the pointed end jutted out with a slight clicking noise. She surveyed the sharpness. “Nice.” Pleased with the quality, she pushed the blade back into the casing.

  “We should talk later,” she said as she slid the blade into her back pocket. “I have a business venture you might be interested in.”

  He grinned and ran his eyes down her body. “I always suspected something different about you.”

  “One of a kind,” Riker said, coming to stand beside her. “Ready?”

  She held the sheathed knife up. “Thanks, I’ll bring them back, or replace them.”

  “Oh.” He lifted a finger, signaling them to wait.

  From the middle drawer of his desk, he withdrew a cell phone. “Here.”

  Katie hesitated to take it. “Jules has–”

  Andy met Riker’s gaze for the first time. Two seconds later, the vamp disappeared behind Katie. She turned to find him snatching Jules’s phone from the sofa.

  “What are you doing with my phone?” Jules asked, following the vampire like a lost puppy.

  Riker stopped in front of the trashcan and held the phone above it. Glass snapped and pieces of the phone crunched together before falling into the garbage.

  Jules grabbed his hands. “Why are you destroying my phone?”

  “Because anyone can track it,” Andy said.

  Hence, the reason he handed Katie a phone. She took it from him. “Thanks.”

  “The number is in the notebook.” Andy added.

  “But Joe–”

  “Is in the hospital.” Katie twisted to face Jules. “And we’re going to see him. If he’s awake, we can give him the number.”

  Riker brushed off his hands.

  “Do you need a weapon?” Katie asked.

  The corner of his lips twitched. “I’m always prepared, Ms. Dillinger.”

  With a deep breath, Katie faced Jules and said, “Let’s go.”

  Jules hurried to the door and reached it first. Riker followed Katie.

  “Call if you need anything,” Andy said. “I’
ll help as best as I can.”

  Katie paused in the dark hall. “Thanks for your help, Andy.” She glanced at Riker as he passed and noticed his chilling expression. Without a doubt, he’d have a few words to say to her without Andy around.

  They left the bar and headed around the building to reach Katie’s Camaro. Riker strode to the driver’s side, leaving Katie no choice but take the passenger seat. Jules stood by the door waiting.

  Irritation warming her blood, Katie asked, “Are you going to let me drive sometime?”

  The alarm beeped, signaling they could open the doors.

  “No.” He opened the door, then disappeared from her sight as he lowered into the driver’s seat.

  Frustration morphed into anger and Katie clenched her fists. How dare he refuse to allow her to drive her car.

  Jules tugged on the handle, then shrugged. “Let him drive, it gives him something to do.”

  Katie shook her head in disgust. She could think of plenty of other things for Riker to do besides driving her car all the time. To make matters worse, Jules acted as if she supported him. What was with the two of them?

  Riker gunned the engine while Jules settled into the back. Peeved, Katie fell into the passenger seat, then slammed the door. “It’s my car. I’d like it back.”

  He said nothing until he finished backing out of the parking spot. “Care to fight me for it?” One of his brows curled slightly, tempting her to challenge him.

  “It’s my car. I shouldn’t have to fight for my car.”

  Riker’s lips hinted at a grin as he drove the car out of the parking lot and on to the main road.

  “It may be your car, but I am the one behind the wheel and in possession of your keys. You can fight me for them or accept you do not have control. I do.”