The Cactus Killer (The Inglewood Chronicles) (28 page)

“
Liz, what in the world do
we do?”

“
We pray Vic, we back away
and pray.”

Taking her advice, I slowly
started to creep away, afraid to draw any attention my way. Still,
I couldn’t take my eyes off the scene in front of me. Two warriors,
getting ready for mortal combat.

Without any rhyme or
warning, Cristof took off towards Forte with uncanny speed. The old
vampire was barely able to defend the first blow, but was not so
lucky on the second one. He only needed one hand now to use
Hrunting, so with his offhand, he smashed his fist into Forte’s
face. He crumpled to the ground in a heap.

“
They were not joking about
your strength. Finally, a real challenge.” He spit the blood out of
his mouth and got back up.

Again, Cristof was on him
in the blink of an eye, but this time Forte was better prepared.
His concentration was impressive, using the two swords in harmony
to block and attack. Even if he managed to hit Cristof, the only
thing that did was enrage the berserk nature even more.

Using a two handed tomahawk
chop, Cristof brought Hrunting down on Forte. Swords locked
together, he was doing his best to stop the blow from connecting,
but he was losing the fight.

He took a moment and looked
over at us. “When I die, just remember that you will have a real
daemon to contend with!”

“
Vic, what did he say? I
couldn’t hear him.”

“
He said when he dies, we
will have a real daemon to contend with.” As the words rolled out
of my mouth, it came together. Forte knew if he couldn’t kill
Cristof, we would be left with an uncontrollable killing machine.
Liz had stopped him once, but only after burning most of Southern
California to the ground. If Cristof got loose, it would be a
slaughter.

“
Gregory, Reno, Phil – get
over here!”

All three looked up and ran
over. Forte was still holding on, but I could see the fight was
almost over. When Gregory got beside me he nearly choked. “Baron
Forte is still alive!”

“
Not for long, as soon as
he dies, Cristof is going to come for the next set of warm bodies.
That’s us.”

All three looked on at
their superior and the realization hit them. We were
screwed.

“
No offense Vic, but all of
us together wouldn’t be able to fight him off in this
state.”

Reno was unfortunately
right. I looked at Forte and he knew his time was up; he was not
going to win this fight.

His eyes locked with mine.
“I welcome the end, knowing that in just a few moments, you will be
joining me.” And with that, he dropped his sword and the massive
broad sword in Cristof’s hand finished the job.

As his body hit the sand
and his head rolled away, Cristof turned towards us and snarled.
All five of us froze in our tracks, we were not in a good
position.

But, there was something I
could do. Shaking myself, I came to my senses and started walking
towards him. “Cristof, it’s me Vic. The guy who picked you up at
the airport, remember?”

If he did, there was no
recollection of that now. All I could hear were Liz and the others
yelling for me to come back.

“
Listen man, it’s over now.
Tucker and Forte are both dead. All their minions are dead, so come
back to us.”

All that earned me was a
swipe with his sword. I knew in just a moment he would attack, so
it was now or never. So I did the only sensible thing that came to
my head. I took Roscoe out and shoot him directly in the foot,
right through the leather of the high dollar Italian shoes he was
dumb enough to wear to a fight.

I could hear the screaming
of the others, but the only thing I was paying attention to was the
enraged vampire in front of me. His eyes went from black back to
vampire red, fangs fully extended.

“
You idiot! Do you know how
much those shoes cost me? And you put a bullet through
them!”

His screams were drowned up
by the sounds of four vampires rushing by me to check on their
boss. I took a deep sigh of relief; a few moments ago I was pretty
sure I was a dead man.

Cheers from the werewolves
started to fill the hollow as the situation diffused. No longer
under threat of a berserk elder vampire, everyone started cheering
on their victory.

“
Penny for your thoughts,
cowboy?” Liz had snuck back over to me. I’ll never get use to her
being able to do that.

“
I can’t believe it is
over. After everything that happened, Tucker and Forte are both
dead.”

“
The fact Baron Forte was
alive and had survived all these years is truly something that
needs to be investigated. But that is for another day.

She was right. I looked
over at where the body of Forte was. Reno had pulled out a Zippo
and was burning it. I guess he wanted to make extra sure this time.
I then looked over at where Tucker was and there was no
body.

“
Liz, where did Tucker’s
body go?”

“
What do you mean?” I
pointed over at where it was.

“
I know corpses just don’t
go wandering off.” I took off towards the spot where he had been
killed. The only thing there was a depression in the sand where the
body had been.

“
What does this
mean?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I
have no clue. It certainly doesn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy
inside.”

Before we could think
anymore about it, dad and Bernard came up to us. Dad put a hand on
my shoulder, “Son, I am so sorry.” Tears were flowing from both
their eyes.

“
Dad, what’s
wrong?”

He started sobbing and
Bernard took over. “Vic, Billy’s dead.” 

Liz and I were walking
towards the cemetery where Billy the Kid would be put to rest.
Eight wolves died that night with three others, including Mayor
Argent had been in critical condition. Dr. Tello worked around the
clock and finally proclaimed the mayor was out of the woods. He was
still in the hospital, but it would be awhile before he was allowed
to leave.

Even though we had won and
ended the nightmare, we paid a heavy price. It was so hard to
believe that both Talia and Billy had died in the line of duty to
bring Tucker to justice. I knew in my heart that the only thing
left to do was to leave Full Moon for the time being and begin
anew. Being here every day would just rip open the
wounds.

I talked to Liz the day
after and I asked her to stay in town long enough to attend Billy’s
funeral. She readily agreed with that, as he was her friend too.
She sent Reno and Phil back to her office in Phoenix to start
getting the paperwork in order.

Gregory and Cristof left
together as well, each needing to get back to their respective
offices. Both told me that I had made friends for life and if I
ever needed anything to give them a call. Cristof did remind me
that my first paycheck would have a deduction for new
shoes.

Full Moon was in complete
mourning. Each of the packs had suffered losses. The night before
Billy’s funeral, the Reds joined Joshua Greenfoot in remembering
Maska and his sacrifice. Under the light of the moon, we sent him
off to join his ancestors in true wolf fashion. It also symbolized
just how strong the relations between the West Texas pack and the
Full Moon Reds had become.

Dad and Bernard wanted me
to help them in the interview process for a new deputy. I had to
decline; I didn’t want to stay any longer than necessary, at least
right now. Also, I felt like it would’ve betrayed his memory
helping to find his replacement so soon. I know they needed to, but
that wasn’t a job for me.

I wasn’t shocked when Liz
and I first got to the church and saw that Pastor Browne would be
the one officiating. Even though they hadn’t known each other long,
Michael and Billy had formed a strong bond over their faith. It
seemed fitting to me that this is the way it would be handled. My
heart also stung with regret that Talia hadn’t been afforded the
same treatment Billy received. I resolved myself to never forget
her and what we had accomplished together in our lives.

Before we went to the final
resting, Pastor Browne gave a wonderful and heartfelt sermon about
courage and strength of character. Those were two things my buddy
had in spades. Liz held on to my hand the entire time with tears
streaming down her face. By the end of the sermon, her eye makeup
was running and she looked like a raccoon. It should have been a
funny sight, but I couldn’t even get the laugh to come
out.

The night before, I got a
phone call from Billy’s family. Billy’s mom asked me to speak at
the service, as she knew how close we were and how much it would
mean to him. Without a second thought I agreed; it would be my
privilege to honor him.

I walked up to the front of
the church, with the paper I had put my dedication down on. Looking
out over the crowd that gathered, “We all knew him as Billy the
Kid, but William Westchester was the best damn deputy this town
ever had. He was kind, compassionate, and hard working. But most
importantly, he believed in the cause that the badge represented.
He died to make sure that each one of us who is here today is
safe.” I felt the tears coming on and my throat was getting
constricted.

Pastor Browne came over and
put a hand on my shoulder. His presence helped calm me so I could
finish. “We both were members of the same generation and he was my
friend. To the younger cubs in the packs, I say look up to him as
an example of how to live your life. To the older generation, I say
remember him from this day onward as what he truly was, a
hero.” 

So I’ve been in Phoenix for
a week now and things aren’t too bad. I felt good knowing Pastor
Browne had taken my offer and was keeping an eye on the old
homestead for me. Speaking of homes, my new place here is
ridiculous. It took me two days just to figure out how to work the
television. Also, in addition to a coffee pot, there is something
called an espresso machine.

“
Good morning
sunshine!”

Yeah, Liz lives with me
here, too. When we got back, she said she had grown accustomed to
taking care of me. I almost felt like I was a house plant or pet.
“Morning Liz. What is that smell?”

“
That is cappuccino,
cowboy. I figured I would start slowly opening you up to all that
the world had to offer.” She handed me the cup. “Try it, you just
might like it.”

Sure enough, it was
actually pretty good. As I was drinking it, I could almost feel my
bag of coffee glaring at me for my act of betrayal. “Now that we
are back at HQ, do we have any leads on who the mastermind behind
the Cactus Killer operation?”

She pulled out her phone,
which I assumed had all of the case files on it. “There are two
different thoughts on this. Cristof thinks Forte was the actual
mastermind behind everything, but did not want to give himself
up.”

“
What’s the other
thought?”

Going back to her phone,
“Gregory is convinced another elder is still alive and the one in
the shadows.”

“
Does he have anything to
back that up? Or is he just guessing at this point?”

“
I do not know, but it
makes sense. Baron Forte was always more the fighter than the
planner. This plan seems just like the sort of nonsense my mother
would come up with.”

I shuddered at that
thought. An older and scarier Liz was certainly nothing I wanted to
deal with. “But she is dead, right?”

“
Yes, she and my father are
both no longer a concern.”

“
What about the other lady
that was on the council with them? Didn’t you say that her death
was a bit more unclear?”

Liz was nodding, “Yes, it
was shrouded in mystery. But Roderick assured me that she was no
longer alive.”

“
I’m not a big fan of
assurances, Liz. We need to get ourselves some concrete
proof.”

She looked at me like I had
sprouted two heads. “I would love to give you some sort of proof,
but her death occurred hundreds of years ago.”

“
You guys live forever, so
surely there has to be a survivor from that time that could give us
an eye witness statement.”

She sighed, “I will give
Roderick a call and see if there is anything he can find out for
us. I will relay just how crucial any piece of information can
be.”

“
Thank you, we have to at
least try.” I finished up my non-coffee, “So what is on tap for
today?”

What was a frown quickly
turned into a giant smile, fangs and all. “Get dressed and meet me
down in the parking garage. I have a surprise for you!”

And with that, she was out
the door. Even moving as quickly as she was, not a sound was to be
heard except the open and close of the door. I wonder if moving
like a ninja can be taught.

Not to keep her waiting, I
threw on a pair of jeans and the first t-shirt I found. Only five
minutes had passed when I entered the garage; she was tapping her
foot and looking at her watch.