The Cactus Killer (The Inglewood Chronicles) (25 page)

“
I’m sorry to hear that. I
hope I wasn’t prying.”

“
It’s okay. They had lived
long and full lives. I’m sure they could have fought back and
slaughtered the humans, but they chose to die peacefully. I can
only guess, but I think they were ready and did not want to become
the monsters they were accused of being.”

That was pretty heavy. I
wish Warren Tucker was here so he could have listened to the story.
I doubt it would change his mind, but it just proved how wrong he
was. I took a drink of my beer while I was thinking.

“
Hey cowboy, I see smoke.
Is everything okay in there?”

“
Just thinking, you know?
This story just adds to how wrong the conception is about all of
us. Is wanting to be left alone to live our lives peacefully so
wrong? I just get the idea that someone is always going to want to
fight us for that right.”

“
When you have lived as
long as Gregory and I have, you know that someone will always be
against something. Warren Tucker is just the latest in a long line
of people who will never understand or accept. You have been lucky
up until recently.”

I looked at her. “What do
you mean?”

“
Out here, in the middle of
nowhere, your pack is pretty much left alone. But in other parts of
the world, even this country; werewolves are hunted by those who
have discovered the secret.”

I’d never even thought
about it. Again, I was wrapped up in what problems were in my life,
not the bigger picture. “This isn’t an isolated problem
then?”

“
Werewolves and vampires
being killed is not, no. Now a madman who turns into a serial
killer and creates his own private army using our blood is a
different story.”

“
I thought you were joking
with me, Elizabeth, when you called and told me what was happening.
To be honest, I am still trying to wrap my head around
everything.”

The bartender came over and
topped us all off. “So you never had anything this crazy in the
northwest, Gregory?”

“
I get my fair share of
hunters who discover us and want to eliminate us. They are never
very successful really. The worst is when I get a group of rogue
vampires who want to live like the old ones did. Putting them
either back in their place or down for good is always a tough
situation.”

I was intrigued now, “What
was the worst problem you ever had?”

“
That’s easy. Back in 1959
when Alaska became a state, Cristof sent me up there to see what
sort of vampire activity was going on.”

“
I’m guessing things didn’t
go well?”

He started laughing, “Well?
I ran into a group of Russian vampires who had captured a wendigo
and were using it to slaughter all sorts of Eskimo villages. The
blasted thing nearly ate me before I was able to kill
it.”

I needed to start
traveling, as again I had no idea what anyone was talking about.
“What is a wendigo?”

“
Think of it as a cross
between a werewolf and Bigfoot. They have the personality of a
great white shark; they are either sleeping or looking for their
next meal. I have three vampires up there who are dedicated to
keeping them in their own territory in the far north reaches of the
Arctic Circle.”

That sounded like a job
that no one in their right mind would sign up for. The bartender
came back over one more time and told us that this was last call,
so we finished our beers and headed out.

“
Beautiful night out here
isn’t it?” Gregory had fallen back and was texting someone and Liz
was beside me.

“
Yes it is.” I couldn’t
tell if she was cold or if vampires could even get cold, but I took
my jacket off and put it on her. “Thank you, that is very sweet of
you.”

“
So you forgive me for my
antics earlier?”

“
Of course I do. I just had
to make you sweat it out for a little while.”

Women, go figure. “So are
there any other members of your family I should know
about?”

“
Jonathan is the only one I
truly consider to be a brother. Cristof was already out of the
picture and working with Roderick by the time I was born. I would
not get to know him until much later.”

“
No offense, but it seems
like your parents, especially your mom, went around turning people
just for fun.”

There was no rage in her
eyes, just the look of someone who had to come to terms with a lot
early on. “My mother considered herself to be above the world as a
whole. If she wanted something, she went out and got it. My father
was so obsessed with his goals and turning humans into cows that he
ignored most of her transgressions.”

“
That must have been a fun
environment to grow up in.”

“
I learned a lot from them.
I learned not how to treat my loved ones for starters and that I
wanted to do the right things when I could. I may have messed up
from time to time but I hope my legacy is better than
worse.”

I smiled, for I had judged
her once harshly, but she was a better person than I was. “Until
recently, I wanted my legacy to be Victor Inglewood, great sheriff
and drinker of fine beers.”

“
Well now, it can be Victor
Inglewood, great inspector and boyfriend of a fine vampire.” Her
face was so serious, but it was pretty funny. I started laughing
and soon she gave up all pretenses of being serious and joined
in.

When we made it to my
house, Reno gave us all the hairy eyeball as we walked by. It was
rather late and I was wondering where Gregory was going to go. “Do
you have a room or anything set up?”

He looked rather sheepish,
“No, I was hoping for the time I was here, I could crash with
you?”

“
Well the old tale about
you guys only being able to enter a house when invited is a load of
crap. You are all a bunch of freeloaders!”

“
I will take that as
assurance I can stay!”

“
Of course you can,
Gregory. You can take the room I was using and I will just move
into Vic’s room.”

“
Perfect! It’s been a few
days since my last nap, so if you two don’t mind, I am ready to
call it a morning.” And sure enough, within fifteen minutes, all of
Liz’s bags were in my room and Gregory had the guest bedroom she
was using to himself.

Liz led me into my room,
essentially putting me to bed too. “I am quite well rested, but you
should sleep. You never know what tomorrow is going to
bring.”

“
I’m okay for a little
while longer…”

Her blue eyes looked
directly into me, “No, I think you need to sleep.”

I didn’t even finish my
sentence. My eyes felt heavy and soon it was off to bed. She did it
to me again!

I popped awake and was
going to give her a piece of my mind, but I was all by myself. I
looked over at the clock and saw it read twelve-fifteen. Defeated,
I followed the smells of coffee and bacon downstairs.

“Good morning sunshine! For
someone who said he was not that tired, you did sleep an awfully
long time!” Her eagerness and sunny disposition was like salt in
the wound.

“
You did your vampire trick
to me again!”

“
I do not know what you are
talking about. I simply made a suggestion and you ran with it. To
imply anything else would hurt my feelings. Now why do you not get
yourself some coffee and freshly made bacon!”

Dad was spot on all those
years ago when he told me women were always right, even when they
were wrong. I poured my coffee and reluctantly took a few pieces of
bacon too.

“
Well, while you were
sleeping, I talked to your father and he has a brilliant plan in
how we should deal with Warren Tucker.”

I was curious now. “What
did ole Callum Inglewood pull out this time?”

“
Since we are in the
southwest, he is going to issue him a challenge old west style. His
message is going to be to meet us and may the better man
win.”

Oh dear lord, only dad
could turn a serious situation into a spaghetti western. “And where
are we to meet for this showdown?”

“
Tomorrow at midnight,
outside of Truth or Consequences in a place known as The Devil’s
Hollow.” 

“
You took a full page ad
out in how many different towns’ newspapers?” Just listening to my
dad drained me.

“
A man like Warren Tucker
reads every newspaper in the state. He wants to be as well informed
as possible, so it only made sense.” Dad logic – I hated it when he
was actually onto something.

I grabbed the paper he
brought, The TorC Dispatch, and read over the page he took out.
There was a picture of me with a headline that read Full Moon, New
Mexico presents ‘The Showdown at Midnight’ starring Victor
Inglewood and Elizabeth Swansea with directions to call the box
offices to reserve your seat. I just groaned as I put it back on
the table.

“
Your mother thought it was
a good picture of you. We wanted you to look good for your big
debut.” Then he had the gall to laugh at me.

“
You are all terrible
people.” Even though I was rather ticked, it was probably a great
idea. “I’m guessing when he calls to yell at me, I am the one to
suggest Devil’s Hollow?”

“
That’s right boy, but try
not to rile him up anymore if you can. Just stay calm and see if
you can get him to agree.”

I didn’t actually think
that would be hard. I could almost imagine Tucker having some sort
of complex that lead him to liking the idea of a midnight showdown.
“Okay, I won’t let him get to me this time.”

“
Now, we are all going to
stick close by, as we want to be here when he calls. So, it looks
like you are going to have company again.”

I needed to start charging
rent, or at the very least board for all the food these people have
been eating. I looked over in the living room and mom and Liz were
enjoying talking to each other. Most of the people were on my back
porch and I think Bernard had fired up the grill. I couldn’t
believe I was saying this, but I hoped Tucker called sooner rather
than later.

Dad joined the guys on the
deck and left me alone with my thoughts. Or so I
thought.

“
Hey Vic, some party
huh?”

Gregory had appeared from
thin air, I think and was taking a seat at my table. “A word of
advice, never open your doors and let people in. It seems they
never leave.”

“
I like all the life and
companionship you have here. The vampire covens and wolf packs in
the northwest tend to be a bit more pretentious. The two races
working together would only end poorly for me.”

I knew Liz had dealings
with many different werewolf packs in the southwest, which made
this easier. “Do you not talk to the pack Alphas as Liz
does?”

“
Between the Reds and
Silvers in Oregon constantly fighting over territory, and the
Blacks in Washington openly hostile to vampires, most of my
interactions are not pleasant. What I would give to work with a
town like Full Moon where all three packs live in
harmony.”

“
I get the feeling I am
going to be in for a culture shock when I pick up my bags and
leave.” I hadn’t given much thought to life after the Cactus
Killer, but it was creeping up. If we all survived that
is.

“
You will be good for the
world. You are most welcome to come visit my territory anytime you
wish. The Alphas up there could learn a lot from you.”

“
I hate to break it to you,
but I doubt they would listen to a werewolf that can’t be a
wolf.”

He looked at me like I was
the one missing something. “Many great people have overcome
handicaps in life. In fact, I would say yours has made you even
stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

“
I keep trying to tell him
that, and even with all he has done, still doubts his own
abilities.” Liz had snuck into the kitchen. I was half tempted to
put a bell on her so I would hear her jingling at least.

“
Yeah, maybe you two are
right. But enough talk about that. Who’s up for a game of
Yahtzee?”

It didn’t take long, but
soon most everyone was crowded in my kitchen as we were playing.
This was how the world was supposed to be, people have fun and
enjoying each other’s company. Even Argent was having fun, at which
Bernard suggested taking a video and putting it up on the
internet.

After a few games, I gave
my seat up to Felix so he could play. I saw Pastor Browne talking
to mom and Dr. Tello and waved him over. He excused himself and
followed me into the living room.

“
What can I do for you, my
son?”

“
I just wanted to make sure
you are doing okay? I know this whole thing has been a complete
shock to you.”

He smiled, “Not as much as
you would think. Billy and your mother have taken excellent care of
me through this. The love and friendship I’ve seen in this
community has shown me we are all part of God’s will.”