Shrouds of Darkness (28 page)

She leans in and sniffs me. “You smell funny, Malone.”

“Funny how, like a clown fart? Sorry, I’m single and I probably don’t shower nearly as often as I should.”

“Explosives were used in a massacre in a warehouse last night. I think maybe you smell like that. But I bet you wouldn’t know anything about that would you? Wait a minute. I seem to recall you saying something about having a demolitions license once. Now that is interesting. What do you think?”

“I think you smell like cats. I think I’ll call you catwoman. Not Halle Berry catwoman, but old lady catwoman; just a mess of cats shitting and pissing all over your apartment. You clean it up and think the neighbors don’t notice the smell but they do. The whole hallway reeks but you don’t notice because you live with them; your cats. How many cats do you have, like five or six or are you more like a crazy hoarder with fifty cats?”

“I will end you, Leo Malone, if it’s the last thing I do,” she promises me.

“If it’s the last thing you do who will feed all your cats?” I ask and hiss at her as she stomps away.

That was fun. I really did smell a cat but probably only one or two, but I needed to throw her off quick. I also need to burn these clothes as soon as I get home. Better make this a quick visit before she comes back with dogs.

Katherine smiles as I walk in. She gets up and for moment I think she is going to embrace me, but she passes by me and closes the door—then wraps her arms around me and kisses me deeply.

“This is a nice surprise. I need it too, given everything that happened last night. You wouldn’t know anything about that would you?” she asks me.

I roll my eyes, curl my lip, and give a sort of grunt.

“Oh dear. You weren’t part of it though?”

“Just the warehouse,” I reply with a shrug.

“Please be careful.”

“I’m always careful.”

She scoffs at my statement. “There were explosives and fire. That does not sound careful to me.”

“You’re right, but it is damned exciting and a little fun if I’m totally honest here.”

“What have I gotten myself into?”

“I know what I got myself into the other night and I wouldn’t mind getting myself into it again.”

She punches me in the chest hard enough to make me take a step back. “Pig.”

She sits back behind her desk and I take a seat in a chair across from it.

“I assume that disaster in the warehouse is about my father?”

“It certainly pertained to the case, but I think from a grand plan perspective your father is a minor part.”

“So you think the attacks on the mobsters are part of it?” she asks.

“Most definitely, but whether that is a big part, small part, or just something to distract me I don’t know. There were vampires in all three attacks on the mobsters and at least two Sheriffs are involved. There is so much I don’t understand. You know they hit my computer guy last night too?”

“Oh no!”

“He got away though. The reason I came here, other than to see you, is to find out if you have any word on how the wolves are taking the sudden increase in vampire violence.”

“They’re laying low but watching very closely. I don’t know how long they will stay on the sidelines if they think there is a threat to their identity. I imagine that means if there is a threat to the vampires revealing themselves as well. The hunt for one kind could easily uncover the other after all.”

I think about that for a second. “I hope they stay on the sidelines. The last thing any of us need is for them to try to deal with it. Of course, I may welcome their help to clean up these new vamps afterward. I’m sure some of them would love to join the hunt.”

Katherine looks at me quizzically. “What new vampires?”

“Someone has gone through a lot of time and trouble to make new vampires to serve them.”

“How many do you think there are?”

“I don’t know. I’ve killed at least a dozen already. I can’t imagine there are that many more out there unless this has all been planned for a very long time.”

“What makes you say that?”

I ask her, “What do you know about making vampires?”

“Not much. You bite them, infect them, and they turn into a vampire.”

“Contracting vampirism is highly unlikely even if you are trying. At best, maybe one out of a hundred otherwise there would be a lot more of us. It’s easier to inflict someone with lycanthropy, but then you all don’t live as long so it pretty much evens out.”

“Are you saying at least a thousand people died to make just the vampires you have killed in the last few days?” Katherine asks incredulously.

“At least. And consider at least that many more attacked Yuri, Hanako, and the Italian.”

“How can thousands of people just die and no one know about it?”

I shrug. “It’s a big city, most of them are lowlifes with few people to notice and even fewer that care, and remember most of the ones that become vamps go right on acting as though nothing happened.” 

“You will have to kill them all?” she asks, obviously not liking the idea.

“If they register with the Council and follow the rules, probably not. But from what I’ve see, these guys were chosen for the very reason that they are complete shit bags who revel in breaking rules and being a huge pain in the ass. Some of them may conform and I have no problem leaving them be if they do. Contrary to popular belief, I don’t take joy in killing—usually, there are exceptions of course.”

She rolls her eyes at me. “So what now?”

“I figure they are going to have to call in some skilled help to deal with me. I assume it will be one or two of the dirty Sheriffs considering how easily I laid waste to their younglings. I hope that I can take at least one of them alive and that should get me close enough to the boss to actually crack this case. The problem is getting them to talk. An experienced vampire can block most pain so physical coercion is difficult, but I have my ways.”

“So you are just going to wait for them to attack you and hope you can capture one, assuming they don’t kill you?” Katherine exclaims.

“Pretty much. I have other leads too, or will as soon as Marvin gets me a name or two from his end.”

Katherine comes around the desk, puts her arms around my neck and kisses me. “Please be careful. I have a hard time replacing men once I decide to keep them.”

“I am addictive. I better go just in case Castillo is serious about coming back with dogs.”

“I was wondering what that smell was.”

“Explosive residue and vampire bits. Cop dogs would look at me like a giant snausage right now.”

She tells me to be careful once more before I make a hasty exit. I really don’t have anywhere else to go today and I would rather not leave Marvin alone any longer than I have to, so I return to my loft. They have already tried to take him out once, and as secure as I think my home is, I would be a fool to think it is impregnable—especially after Marvin already broke in.

I watch Marvin pull his hand back from reaching for the shotgun propped against his desk as I come in. Good. That shows he is taking the danger he is in seriously. Something I wasn’t sure he was capable of until some vampire is showing him one of his own organs.

“How’s it coming?”

“I’m getting real close. I’m in their gateway router and that’s half the battle. Unless something really unexpected happens, I should be in their server in a couple hours tops.”

Now could not be soon enough. I am getting tired of this game of waiting for others to make a move. I begin stripping off my clothes and toss them into the huge furnace.

“Yo, Leo, whacha doing over there?” Marvin calls out over his monitors.

“I have explosives residue on my clothes. I have to burn them before Castillo sticks her nose in them again.”

“What the heck have you been blowing up?”

“Just people who failed to meet my expectations. It’s my idea of a motivational speech,” I tell him and deliberate look his way.

“Hostile work environment,” Marvin reminds me.

I replace my jacket and clothes—I am going to have to do some major clothes shopping after this case—and decide to occupy my time in my armory. I find I do my best thinking breaking down my guns and designing explosives. I push the hidden button and the section of the floor lifts and rolls back to expose my armory.

“Whoa,” Marvin exclaims and darts over to the exposed stairway, “what you got down there? Is that your bat cave?”

I grab Marvin by the shoulder and propel him several steps backwards as I descend the steps. “It’s a very quick and painful end to our business relationship and possibly your life if you ever go near it.”

“Hostile-work-environment!” Marvin calls down the stairs after me, enunciating each word.

As I putter about my armory, I try to make sense of what is going on. The first thing I need to figure out is who gains from all this? Vincent is becoming increasingly unpopular with the Council and voting members of the enclave for a variety of reasons. He could have created this crisis and threat to the enclave simply so he could resolve it. It would show to the enclave that he could act with strength and decisiveness and perhaps shore up his declining popularity.

It would not be the first time such a ploy has been used. But if he is behind it, why hire me? Vincent may hate me but he knows I am good at my job and could uncover the entire charade. Because he hates me. He calls me in, gets me involved, then kills me or makes me a scapegoat.

Option two is someone else in the enclave smells Vincent’s weakness and decides to hasten his removal. They create this disaster, run it until Vincent is removed, then sweep in, makes it go away, and is hailed a hero. They gain strength in the enclave, maybe enough to be elected to the head of the Council.

I really don’t care what the reason is at this point or who is behind it. My problem is that every scenario I come up with ends up with me dead at its conclusion. I really need to be more choosey of what cases I take. Then again, Vincent didn’t really give me a choice. At least I got laid before I die.

Marvin calls me down to me several hours later so I put away my toys to see what he wants. I have to assume he has the information I want—either that or he wants to order another pizza. I can’t imagine eating that much pizza can be healthy.

“You got something for me?”

“Of course. Mo’ Money always delivers.”

“Mo’ Money takes his sweet time. What do you have?”

Marvin drops a stack of papers in front of me. “Dr. Sandra Johnston, senior biopharmaceutics researcher, all level access. Records show her card was used not only to access the biosafety-level 4 area but the secure storage system that contained nothing else but that sample. Here is her picture, her address, and her work schedule. Give me another hour and I will have her hobbies, turn-ons and offs.”

I grab the stack of papers and cross the room to close the access to my armory. I’m not sure what tips me off, a sudden shift in the air perhaps. A black form drops from the ceiling and nearly takes my head off. My split-second dodge saves my life but I still end up with a vicious slash from my right shoulder to my left hip.

I immediately block the pain as best I can without hindering my ability to fight. His weapon is vicious little thing. It has a punch knife handle but instead of a sharp blade for stabbing, it has a large, half moon-shaped blade made for the express purpose of popping off heads.