Evil Red (5 page)

Once Valerie graduated from boot camp, she was flown
back to Anchorage in one of the military’s private jets.

She leaned against her arm rest watching the terrain
turn to mountains outside the window. Mountains, mountains, and
more mountains. They went on forever like a great northern wall
blocking Alaska off from the rest of the country.

Although it was August, the peaks were
snowcapped.

It was gray and raining when they landed on Elmendorf
Air Force Base just outside Anchorage. Agent Melcher and Agent
Crist stood waiting on the tarmac beside a black SUV. Valerie slung
her burlap bag over her shoulder and walked towards them in a tall
pair of brown leather boots she’d won off another recruit during a
game of cards.

“Welcome home, Miss Ward,”
Melcher said.

“This isn’t my home.” Nor was that her name, but
she’d gotten over that during boot camp. Her role had been cast.
Besides, she’s never liked the name Williams.

“It is now,” Crist said.

Valerie narrowed her eyes. The She-Bitch might think
she called the shots now, but that wouldn’t always be the case.
Valerie planned to rise to the top, and when that day came, she’d
decide where she lived.

Melcher opened the back door of the SUV. “We’ll go
over your living arrangements and first assignment on base, and
then you’ll be free to settle into your accommodations.”

Finally, a plan that sounded halfway decent. Valerie
threw her bag in first then jumped into the back seat.

Head held high, she walked through the base’s
hallways feeling a thousand times better than she had the last time
she was here. Valerie waltzed into the agents’ office, dropping her
bag beside a chair before sitting, legs crossed.

Melcher walked around his desk to face her. He
rotated his wrist in the air, grinning.

“Your instructors were very impressed with you. They
said you were one of the best they’d seen in years.”

Valerie tried to look bored. Just because that
information brought her pleasure didn’t mean Melcher needed to
know. All her life, she’d been trailer trash. A sure thing. A good
lay. No one had ever thought she’d amount to anything.

Now look at her. Secret government spy. Like Alias or
Charlie’
s Angels.

Boot camp had been the role Valerie had trained for
all her life.

Beautiful young woman attacked outside Los Angeles
club. Wakes up in Alaska and forced to hunt vampires by secret
government agency.

With the audition over, she was ready to get to the
good stuff—undercover work in real-life settings. No more cells and
training tests, just good old-fashioned, hands-on assignments.

Valerie tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Now you
know what I can do. What’s next?”

Melcher gave an approving nod. “We have a very
important assignment for you, Valerie.” He moved to a file cabinet
against the wall, pulled open a heavy metal drawer, and extracted a
folder. The drawer banged shut.

“We need you to get close to a vampire named
Francesco Donado.”

“And by close, we mean date,” Crist said.

“I am not dating one of those creatures. I’ll kill
them, but I won’t date them.”

Crist’s face turned a bright shade of red. “You will
do exactly as we say unless you want to end up serving lunch in one
of our facility cafeterias the rest of your life.”

Valerie clenched and unclenched her fist. Should she
punch the bitch or slap her? Before she could decide, Melcher put
up a hand, narrowing his eyes at Crist.

“No one understands your revulsion more than me, Miss
Ward. Yours is the toughest mission an agent can receive. As such,
I only reserve this kind for the most elite among our ranks. The
last informant we assigned to Francesco failed and has been
reassigned to undercover work in Fairbanks.”

Valerie worked her jaw from side to side. If anyone
could succeed where others had failed, especially when it came to
men, it was Valerie. She loved a challenge, but that didn’t mean
she’d spread her legs for some disease-riddled undead guy.

“Francesco is not violent and has never killed anyone
that we’re aware of. He’s your typical rebellious high school
senior. He’s been attending Denali High School the past three
years. We’ve enrolled you there, as well.”

Melcher was sorely mistaken if he thought he could
keep talking and Valerie would suddenly forget her earlier
refusal.

“He goes by the nickname, Fane,” he continued.

Valerie’s lips curled back. “What kind of loser
vampire calls himself Fane?”

Melcher handed the folder to Valerie. She opened the
file to a photograph of a young man with jet black hair buzzed on
the sides and a clump of bleached-blond hair on top.

Valerie looked at the photo and smirked. “The kind
who dyes his hair black and blond.”

The picture was paper clipped over a stack of typed
pages. She studied it closer. The vamp had startling brown eyes.
Too bad they were so far apart. His cheeks were slightly hollow.
His lips were uneven and full, which might work for Angelina Jolie,
but not on a dude. In short, he had the kind of face only a mother
could love.

Valerie’s lip curled back further. If she was going
to cozy up to a vamp he needed to look like David Boreanaz, Ian
Somerhalder, Paul Wesley, Antonio Banderas, Brad Pitt, or Tom
Cruise. Take a pick.

“
You can
’t
seriously expect me to kiss those lips,” Valerie said, unable to
tare her eyes off the photo. His ugliness held an inexplicable
fascination over her.

When Melcher
didn
’
t answer, Valerie
said,
“He’s certainly nothing to look at.”

“Don’t underestimate Francesco. He’s been around
almost as long as the Mona Lisa.”

Valerie flicked a lock of hair that had fallen over
her shoulder. “Is that supposed to impress me?”

“Francesco is nothing like the vampires you saw in
initiation or training. He is clever, cultured, and cautious. Do
you think you could get close to him, Miss Ward, or do I need to
find a recruit who’s up for the challenge?”

Valerie straightened her spine.

“Fine, I’ll get close to him. Doesn’t mean I’ll fuck
him.”

Valerie smiled to herself when she saw Melcher wince
at her language. The prude made a quick recovery.

“I’m not asking you to do that. Get close to him
however you can. Accompany him to social functions and find out who
he spends time with. Keep a journal of all the names he
mentions.”

Did Valerie look like the kind of chick who kept a
journal? Think again, Agent Douche.

Valerie pursed her lips thinking it over.

Beautiful young secret agent seduces vampire.

Perhaps.

Valerie sat on the edge of her seat, back straight,
nose lifted. “Will he try to bite me?” she asked.

“Only if you let him,”
Melcher said.

“Where will I be living?” Valerie asked, changing
topics.

“We have a room set up for you in the home of one of
our staff members.”

Valerie’s eyes narrowed. “
I don
’t need a babysitter.”

Melcher grinned ever so slightly. “Consider it part
of your probation period.”

“Probation?” Valerie cried. “I graduated from boot
camp. My instructors said I’m ready for active duty.”

“We’ll see how you do,”
Melcher said.

She’d show him what she could do. She would’ve liked
to do a demo right here in this stuffy office, but
self-preservation kept Valerie planted on her seat. The death glare
would have to do for now.

“Now, let’s talk clothing,” Melcher said, folding his
hands over his desk.

Finally, a topic that deserved attention.

Melcher craned his head toward his partner. “What do
you think, Agent Crist?”

Crist gave Valerie a sour-faced once over. “I think
she looks too Beverly Hills.”

Valerie turned in her chair until she was facing
Crist then crossed her arms. “I’m not the one in need of fashion
advice. Has anyone ever told you that blouse is hideous?”

The woman’s scowl instantly lifted Valerie’s
spirits.

“Miss Ward, I advise you not to insult your
superiors,” Melcher said through clenched teeth.

Good, she’d gotten to him, too.

“Sorry,” Valerie said, smiling sweetly. “I didn’t
mean to hurt your girlfriend’
s
feelings.
”

Crist’s face turned beet red, just what her
complexion did not need. The woman sputtered, but stopped when
Melcher lifted a hand. His eyes locked on Valerie narrowing to
slivers that cut across the room and stole her breath away. Turned
out the dweeb had his own death glare, one that inexplicably made
Valerie feel this unassuming asshole had been holding back, but if
he wanted, he could do some serious damage.

Her body wanted to shrink back into her seat, but she
fought with every nerve to keep straight and not look away
first.

Melcher cleared his throat. “Agent Crist and I have a
professional relationship, as does everyone privileged enough to be
on my team. I’m disappointed, Valerie. I thought you worked out
your aggression at boot camp.”

“I’m sorry,” Valerie said begrudgingly.

Melcher cocked one brow.

Valerie’s shoulders sagged slightly. She looked at
Crist. “I apologize for my rude remark, Agent Crist.”

Crist nodded her blotchy face stiffly. She barely
looked at Valerie, like she couldn’t stand the sight of her. The
feeling was mutual.

“Are we all square?”
Melcher asked Crist.

She nodded again.

Fine, Valerie liked it better when the woman kept her
trap shut.

“Good, then let’s get back to business,” Melcher
said. He was far less intimidating once his face and tone returned
to normal. “You have a place to live and you have your first
assignment. That leaves one other thing.”

Great, now what?

Melcher grabbed a set of keys off his desk. They
jangled as he held them up by a red plastic keychain. “These are
the keys to your new Honda Civic.”

Every pleasure center of Valerie’s brain lit up like
a quickie mart after sunset. It had been so long since she truly
smiled that it felt like an unused muscle was being pulled and
stretched. Valerie would have liked to play coy, but she couldn’t.
Not for this. Not when Melcher held the keys to her very own car in
his fingertips.

Valerie stood up and snatched the keys.

“When you do good work you will find I can be quite
generous,”
Melcher said.
“Your new car is equipped with a GPS. We figured you could use it,
as you’re new to the city. Your home address and the high school
are programmed into the favorites menu.”

Valerie only half listened. Boys had given her
jewelry before, and there’d been a certain excitement at holding a
pendant or bracelet in her palm for the first time, but those
trinkets seemed trivial as she held the keys to her new car inside
her fingers.

She closed them in her fist, suddenly afraid Melcher
would take them back.

“
I don
’t
have a license.”

Valerie didn’t want to admit it, but the agents had
to know with full access to all her records.

“You do now,”
Melcher said.

Crist reached into her desk drawer and begrudgingly
handed an ID card to Melcher. The moment Melcher held it forward,
Valerie snatched it from his fingers.

There it was—an Alaskan Driver’s License issued to
Valerie Ward. Brown eyes. Red hair. Weight…whatever. Age…

“
Twenty-one!
”

“We altered your age should the occasion arise that
you need to go undercover inside a club,”
Melcher said.

This kept getting better and better. The only thing
that sucked was the photograph, taken from her junior year. Those
school yearbook portraits wouldn’t even do Scarlett Johansson
justice. But Valerie wasn’t going to worry about that right now.
She had a driver’s license without taking the test and keys to her
very own car.

“Do you know how to drive?” Crist demanded, finding
her voice again.

“Of course,”
Valerie said.
“My boyfriends always let me take
their cars for a spin.”
Except
for Todd. He
’d balked at the suggestion. The jerk probably
hooked up with someone else before the ink even dried on Valerie’s
obituary.

On to bigger and better.

Val had her own set of wheels now and a vampire to
seduce. Easy as Eskimo pie.

Before she could walk out the door, Crist lashed out.
“Do we need to remind you what will happen if you try to skip town
or contact your family?”

Way to ruin the moment.

She made Val’s sisters look like saints. Sisters
she’d never see again. Valerie knew the deal. Her instructors had
made everything crystal clear before training began. Fine, she’d
play ball… for now. Once Valerie rose up the ranks, she would
renegotiate her terms. If they’d give her a car on her first day,
there had to be more perks where that came from.

Valerie shook her hair back. This time she
wasn’
t letting Crist get under
her skin.

“If I call my family they’ll be dealt with,” she said
tilting her head as though the idea bored her.

She’d lunged at the first instructor to threaten her
family… and made threats of her own involving the mothers of every
instructor and agent in their little underground organization.

“
Good,
”
he’d said. “That anger can be used in training.”

Valerie
wasn
’t used to people not reacting to a threat or insult.
She’d stored the instructor’s expression, tone, and calm stance
inside her head to practice mimicking later—the way she did
now.

Valerie twirled a strand of hair in her finger while
looking Crist in the eye steadily.