Helens-of-Troy (28 page)

“Pretty much. What the fuck happened
last night?”

“It’s been a busy one. Kevin Clark was
found dead over at Tara’s place. Somebody stuffed him in a fridge.
Wildman’s in the hospital with a couple of broken bones. Tara’s
gone to her aunt’s. Jacey’s over at your place babysitting Stan
until your mom gets home.”

So it had happened like the vampire had
said it would, Ryan thought. “You’ve got to go to my place and help
Jacey watch Stan.”

Tom glanced at the door to see whether
Purdy was watching him. Not seeing him, he moved closer towards
Ryan’s cell. “Jacey’s not exactly talking to me. We had another
fight after your game. Same old, same old.”

“I don’t give a shit. Fix
it.”

“What’s going on, dude?”

Ryan rested his forehead on the bars of
the cell and closed his eyes. What he had to say to Tom was not
easy to say. “The killer...I think Stan’s next on his death
list.”

Tom could tell from the tone of his
voice that Ryan truly believed that Stan was in danger.
“Why?”

“Look. Don’t ask me to explain. He
doesn’t even really want the kids. He wants something more. The
kids are only practice for him. Until he’s better at his
game.”

“It’s going to get worse?”

“Way worse. We’ve got to try to stop
it. But I can’t do anything while I’m locked up in here. Whatever
you did to Jacey, I need you to work it out. Go find Goth-Chic and
tell her I need to see her.”

“Ellie’s not talking to me
either.”

“You’re a big fucking help. What do you
know about vampires?”

“I read Dracula a couple of years
ago.”

“Great. Purdy knows more than you do. I
need you to do me a favor. I need you to go to the library and find
out what it takes to kill them.”

“Duh...silver bullets, wooden stakes to
the heart. What were you and Tara doing at the midnight horror
movie the last long weekend?”

“Not watching the fucking movie.” He
though about Tom’s question. “Okay, so you and Jacey actually
watched it. Maybe that’s good. Maybe Jacey does have a
clue.”

“Jacey’s not stupid, Ryan.”

“Has she given it up to you
yet?”

Tom glanced down at the
floor.

“I rest my case.”

The sound of the front door opening
silenced their conversation. Purdy subconsciously picked some wax
from his ear as he came back inside. He was quiet as he took his
jacket off, sat down in his chair and put his feet up on his desk.
Ryan was in his direct line of sight.

“Exactly what did you ever do to
Michael McMann to make him hate you so much, Lachey? I’m just
curious. I get the whole Ralph/Tara Wildman thing, but McMann’s got
a son. Something I should know about?”

“It’s not my fault his kid can’t throw
a football worth a shit and didn’t make the team for the third year
in a row. Why? What did the old coot say?”

“He says he saw you with the girl on
Halloween. He’s going to make a statement to the Chief when he gets
here.”

“He’s full of shit.”

“Lucky for you, I know that.” He
pointed at his own head. “Internal bullshit radar.”

“Then quit wasting your time with
him.”

“Yes boss,” Purdy said
sarcastically.

“No disrespect intended,” Ryan began,
“but Purd, the dude you asked me to describe before Tom got here
has threatened my brother’s life. You know, the kid you’re supposed
to be protecting. Maybe you should be spending more time worrying
about him, than reading my loves notes that come crashing through
the window.”

“Stan does not need protection. He
needs a babysitter. I found him one.”

“Are ya sure? Remember the long, dark
haired, skinny dude...about Tom’s height, minus the hair
gel?”

“Hey, leave my hair out of it,” Tom
interjected.

“What does your bullshit radar say
about that, Officer Purdy?” Ryan continued. “Or does it fade in and
out like the cellular signals in this hellhole town?”

Before Purdy could answer, their
attention turned to the sound of a police siren getting closer and
closer. Another cruiser had arrived outside.

“You’re lucky. Colin Dayton’s here,”
Purdy said, pulling his own car keys from his pant pocket as he
looked out the window. “I’ve had enough of your lip today. I’m done
here.” He put his heavy winter coat back on. “Is there anything you
want me to say to your mom when I see her?”

Ryan was quiet.

“I didn’t think so,” Purdy said as he
left the building.

Tom noticed a grin forming across
Ryan’s face. “What are you smiling about? He just totally silenced
you.”

“The dude’s starting to believe me,”
Ryan said, as he sat back down on the bed.

“Does this mean I don’t have to go get
Jacey and Ellie now?”

“Remember that time when you were ten
and I covered for you when you broke Old Man Wagner’s front window
with the baseball?”

“Yeah, why?”

“When I got out of jail for that, Betty
made me pay for it out of my paper route money. It took me another
six months to save up enough for a new bike, but I took it like a
man because we were friends. You said you owed me one. It’s time.
I’m calling in the biggest favor of our lives. I need you to help
me deal with some demons.”

Tom thought about it. “If my dad had
found out it was me, I never would have got to go to Disneyland
that summer. I never would have got kissed by that totally hot
twelve-year-old they made me ride with in the teacup. My entire sex
life might have been delayed. That was pretty decent of
you.”

“Too true.” He made a gesture like he
was putting a microphone in front of Tom. “Tom Williams, now that
we haven’t won the Varsity Cup because the best damned player is
stuck in jail, are you going to go to back to
Disneyland?”

“Hell no. I’m going to the library to
get us some books on how to kick-ass kill vampires,
baby!”

Ryan stuck his hand out the between the
cell bars so that Tom could high-five him.

“And that, dude, is why we’re still
friends even though your hair is totally
over-processed.”

Tom laughed. “I’ve got to get up early
and re-stock the shelves over at the store before my Dad opens up
tomorrow, so I have to go. I’ll catch you later.” He flashed a
peace sign at Ryan before heading out the door.

“He is going to be absolutely no
fucking help,” Ryan sighed to himself. He watched as Officer Colin
Dayton came into the police station, ignored him, and immediately
headed into the washroom.

“Yo, hi to you too,” Ryan
scoffed.

It was ten minutes before the grumpier
half of the Dayton twin patrol came out of the bathroom with a wet
cloth over his eyes.

“Did you party hard last night or
something?” Ryan asked. “What happened to your eye?”

“What’s it to you?” the officer said.
“I got hit with some debris out on the highway. But for the record,
what I do or don’t do in this hellhole town is no concern of
yours.”

“Just trying to make conversation,”
Ryan mumbled to himself.

The office phone rang. Colin Dayton
answered it.

“Yeah, I’m here. Sorry about that
Chief. I’ve still got a bit of the flu.” He took the cloth from his
eyes just long enough to look at Ryan. “He’s fine. The side window
is smashed, though. The mob outside probably did it. It was a gong
show when I first got here. I had to use the horn of my truck to
clear them from the driveway so I could park. I don’t know what the
hell Purdy was doing, letting them all go crazy like that.” He
paused and glanced outside through the broken glass. “It’s quiet
all of a sudden. I think they went over to the Topaz now that it’s
open, to get organized. As organized as a bunch of pitchfork-toting
farmers can get. I’ll call the glass guys, and see if I can get
them over here today. It’ll probably be overtime for them, being
Sunday and all. I’ll let you explain that one to the town council.
The bright side is, those bars on the windows have paid for
themselves today.”

He glanced over at Ryan who had moved
to the toilet in his cell.

“Lachey, do you think you could take
your dump after I finish this phone call?”

“Nature calls, dude.”

“Listen Chief,” Colin continued. “I’ve
got to go lock myself in our bathroom until the broken window lets
some air in to take out Lachey’s breakfast stench. I’ll call you
back later.”

“Well, if you guys would bring me a
salad every once and a while, it might help,” Ryan said
loudly.

Colin took the cloth from his head and
used it to cover his nose as he headed into the
bathroom.

“Drama Queen,” Ryan taunted.

Once inside the tiny station bathroom,
Colin uncovered his nose and looked into the mirror. His skin was
white, his eyes were puffy and he felt like throwing up. He reached
into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. It was flashing. He
opened his directory and saw that it was a text message from his
brother Cody.

“PARTY-ON”

“Shit,” Colin said. “There’s just no
rest for the wicked.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Helena poured Roy a cup of coffee while
he finished his first phone call of the morning from the comfort of
her kitchen. He had already showered and dressed, and only had a
few minutes for a quick Helena-style breakfast of java and toast
before he would have to make his way to the police station for what
was promising to be a long day.

“You sit down,” she instructed. “Let
the pumpernickel digest. You don’t want your acid reflux acting up
on you again.”

“This coffee will kill the acid
reflux,” Roy insisted. “This coffee will kill anything.”

“Well, I wasn’t really paying attention
when I measured. Or didn’t measure,” she muttered as she glanced
out the window. “It’s a dreary day. I think we’re in for some
snow.”

“How can you tell? It’s only seven
o’clock. It’s winter. It’s still dark.”

“My fingers ache and I feel restless,”
Helena replied, squeezing some hand cream from the bottle she kept
by the sink and massaging it into her hands. “And besides, there’s
an eerie haze around that full moon outside. It gives me the
willies.”

The phrase had an ironic meaning to her
that Roy would never understand.

“Great. Just what I needed. More
lunatics in Troy. He saw his remark didn’t improve her mood, so he
motioned for her to come nearer. “As long as we’re only weathering
a meteorological storm, we’ll get through it,” he smiled at her,
placing her hand in his own. “I just don’t want any other kind of
storms around here, okay? I’ve got enough on my plate right
now.”

She wished she could assure him that
the worst was over, but every nerve in her body was telling her it
wasn’t.

“Did one of the Dayton’s make it in?”
she asked, moving the ceramic sugar bowl towards his oversized
coffee mug. She had managed to get Roy to cut down on his salt over
the past six months, but sugar was a whole other issue. She watched
as he dumped three heaping spoonfuls into his cup.

“Finally,” Roy answered, blowing on the
coffee before taking a big sip. Bitter as it was, he knew he
wouldn’t find time for another before noon. “Colin. He says he came
down with the flu yesterday and was too sick to call in. I haven’t
heard from Cody yet.”

“I know it’s none of my business,”
Helena began, “I don’t know them from Adam, but maybe you should
think about training a few new recruits. Back-up cops.”

“Back-up cops? Why, are you offering?”
he laughed, playfully grabbing her waist. “I know you’re good with
the cuffs, but...”

“Never you mind. I could run circles
around those two if I had half a mind to. They might be in their
thirties, but they’d be begging for mercy before we got to the end
of the block. I saw them chasing after Ronnie Thornton when he
broke out of the Shady Acres rest home last Easter. It was like
they were running in slow-mo compared to Ronnie, and he’s in his
seventies.”

Roy laughed. “You’re probably right.
They’re not the quickest on their feet. The dirty work doesn’t seem
to faze them, though. There’ll be no trauma counseling for those
two, guaranteed. That’s why I wish they had been around the past
couple of days. Purdy’s putting up a good front, but I can see the
pressure is getting to him. So if you don’t mind, I’d like to keep
the twins around for a while. We all get sick from time to time,
they just picked an inconvenient time.”

“I’m just saying they just seem to have
their own agenda.”

“Who doesn’t have their own agenda in
this town?” Roy laughed. “When you figure out what theirs is
Sherlock, you let me know. I’ll send a memo to human
resources.”

Helena punched him playfully on the
shoulder. “I know when you’re sassing me, Roy Cohen.”

Roy often talked about the Dayton
twins, but Helena never really had a chance to get to know them.
Most of what she knew about them she knew from the women in the
hair salon who gossiped about them from time to time. They all
seemed to agree the Dayton’s were good looking men who never seemed
interested in any of the women from Troy.