To Serve and Protect (10 page)

Troy huffed. “I can’t say.” He cursed. “Geez, just be quiet so I can concentrate on driving, will ya?”

Vincent took a deep breath and tried to calm down. His nerves mounted. He wanted to punch Troy in the face and get him to stop, but he couldn’t do much right now but just pray they didn’t get into a car crash.

When they passed the road to the station, Vincent pointed behind his shoulder. “You just passed it.”

Troy didn’t look at him but rather in his rearview mirror. “Hmm, what?”

“You just passed the station, Troy.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yeah, you did.” Vincent’s voice rose.

Troy laughed. “You’ve got amnesia. How can you remember where the station is anyway?”

Vincent argued, “I do remember where it is. And it’s that way!”

Troy cursed loudly and slipped his hand into his jacket, taking out his gun. “Just shut your damn mouth and let me drive!”

Vincent’s heart jumped to his throat in his surprise. Fear spread a cold chill down his spine and weakened his legs. Biting his lip, he remained completely quiet and stared at Troy, waiting to see what he’d do next.

While Troy still aimed the gun at Vincent’s chest, he drove the car into the vacant back alley of an isolated building in the east end of the city. He got out and quickly made his way over to the passenger’s side. In a low tone, he said, “Get the hell out.”

“Where is this place?”

Troy slammed his fist into the hood of the car. “Will you just stop asking questions and shut up? Get out of the car now!”

Vincent did as he had ordered and then said, “Now what?”

“We wait.”

“Wait for who…Jacob?”

Troy didn’t reply. He just continued to look around.

They waited for more than ten minutes until Vincent had enough and asked his questions again. “Why did you bring me here? Why are we standing around like this?”

“Because he told me to bring you here.”

“Who did, Jacob? The captain? Who?”

Troy gestured with his head for Vincent to look behind him. “He did.”

Vincent turned in the direction Troy pointed. The shadow of a super-tall man approached them from yards away. Fear swarmed Vincent’s senses and his blood turned to ice while he followed the stranger’s every move. When he got into close range, the streetlight above shone over his head. Vincent could see the stranger’s glowing eyes and realized he was the man in his nightmare.

“You!” Vincent said with a shaky voice. Terror had him by the throat. He couldn’t move or run, only remain frozen gawking in disbelief as all his memories flooded his brain.

Now he knew without a doubt who exactly Vincent Brewster was. His fears back at the apartment about what and who he actually might be were founded. He was a horrible and evil monster, just like this vile man before him.

The man didn’t respond to Vincent, but he did speak to Troy. “You got him here just like we asked.”

“Where’s Jamie?” Troy demanded.

The giant man frowned at him. “She’s not here.”

“They promised you’d tell me where she is if I did everything they asked,” Troy shouted.

“Go to the church. You’ll find her there,” the man said, waving his hand in the air to rid himself of Troy.

Troy rushed to get into his car and cursed out loud. “She’d better be there and in one piece, or else!”

Vincent stared at the man as Troy drove away. When the sound of peeling tires faded, he said through clenched teeth, trying to tame the monster threatening to break free deep inside him, “You play a dangerous game, Sal. Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you now!”

Chapter 14

Jacob’s cell phone vibrated and he almost jumped out of his skin. Answering it, he asked, “Troy?”

“No, it’s John Firmere from Station 23.”

Jacob’s heart sunk in panic when he realized who it was. He knew the reason for John’s phone call. It had to do with the APB the captain issued minutes after they found out Troy was no longer at Jacob’s apartment and that he and Vincent were missing.

Taking a deep breath, he feared the news John had to tell him would be bad. “Yeah, John, do you have anything for us?”

“Yeah, we do. We found Troy’s car.”

Jacob bolted out of his chair. “Where is it?”

“In front of The Church of the Sacred not far from your station.”

Grabbing his keys and heading for the door, he replied, “I know where it is. I’m on my way.”

He didn’t head for his car. Instead he set out on foot running down the block. He’d get there faster on foot than by car as it was just around the corner. His heart pounded furiously in his chest, not because he was out of breath but because of terror. Terror of what he’d find when he got there.

It took him a couple of minutes to make it to Troy’s car. John and Harold Kolt, John’s partner, were there waiting for him. He nodded to them both and asked, “So what do you have so far?”

Harold said, “The car was empty when we found it ten minutes ago. The hood was still hot, so he just got here.”

“Then where is he?” Jacob asked.

John pointed to the church’s front doors. “We believe he’s in there. It’s the only place he could go.”

Jacob’s heart skipped a beat wondering what he’d find when he got inside.

“I’m going in.” He quickly made his way to the door, taking his gun out of its holster. “Cover me.”

John and Harold followed his orders as Jacob made his way into the church. It was empty, except for a hunched-over figure at the altar. As Jacob approached, he could see it was Troy. He hunched over a body on the floor.

Panic rising, he screamed, “Vincent’s been injured!”

Troy lifted his head to look at Jacob, his eyes filled with tears, his nose running. Through sobs, he replied, “No, they killed her. They killed my Jamie!”

Jacob knelt down to get a better look at the mutilated face and body of the victim. Even though the face and body had suffered hundreds of lacerations with a sharp knife, he recognized the face. It was Jamie, Troy’s ex-wife. They divorced five years ago and she supposedly ran away with another man.

Jacob put his hand on Troy’s shoulder for support. “I’m sorry, man. I know you still loved her.”

Troy continued to cry and sniffle. “They promised me that they’d free her if I helped them.”

Jacob’s eyes widened. “Who, Troy? The ones responsible for the killings? Where’s Vincent?”

He said between sobs, “I’m so sorry, bro. I had to bring Vincent to them. They threatened they’d kill Jamie if I didn’t continue to cooperate. But they did it just the same. The bastards!”

There was no time for Troy’s confession. Jacob needed to know where Vincent was. “Where is he, Troy?”

Wiping his nose and drying his eyes, Troy composed himself and said, “I’ll take you. It’s at the abandoned Robin’s Bakery building over at the east end.”

Jacob pointed to John. “Call this in and have backup meet us at the Robin’s Bakery building stat.”

Both Jacob and Troy ran to Troy’s car, desperately trying to get to Vincent before it was too late.

As Troy started the car, he turned to Jacob and said, “Before we get there, you need to know something first.”

“What?”

“We’re dealing with something supernatural here.”

Jacob shook his head. “What? No, we’re dealing with a sick cult. That’s what we’re dealing with.”

Troy drove off, and while he stared outside, he added, “No, bro. They aren’t a cult. They’re vampire slayers. They’ve been around for centuries and are everywhere, even in Canada and Europe. And, man, they got power in high places. Even in the Vatican and the government, bro. The shit and blood runs deep.”

Jacob pulled at his hair, trying to assimilate Troy’s fairy tale. “What crazy crap are you saying, Troy?”

Troy stared him straight in the eye and confessed, “No, it’s the God honest truth, Jacob. And Vincent is a vampire.”

Chapter 15

They had been staring at each other for almost ten minutes, not speaking. Each circling the other. Both calculating and measuring the enemy.

Sal grinned and finally broke the silence. “I see your memory came back.”

“So has my strength and my vengeance. You’ll pay for killing my brother,” Vincent growled.

“Good, so has mine, thanks to your brother.” Sal sneered as he glared at him.

“Damn you! I swore over a century ago not to kill another human ever again, but considering I don’t see you and your kind as being human but God’s abomination, then I’ll take joy in ending your life here and now.”

Sal laughed. “Don’t you think it’s the other way around? You and your kind are God’s abomination.”

“No, both of us are. We are freaks of nature that should have never been created.”

“You are right on only one count, not two, Vincent. Your kind should never have been created. But we will soon change that. Now…allow me the pleasure of wiping one more vampire from this world.” The knife he had hidden inside the sleeve of his jacket slipped out into his hand in a split second and he thrust it toward Vincent’s chest.

Vincent had time to block the attack, but just barely. The sharp edge of the blade cut into his palm. Vincent moaned as he grabbed Sal’s hands and tore the knife from his grip. It flew to the ground about six yards away.

Sal punched him in the face and Vincent slammed his fist into his gut. Sal’s strength had increased considerably since the last time they fought, the night Sal killed his brother. But this time around, Vincent wasn’t weak and half-starved for animal blood like the night Sal attacked him and his brother. His chances were far greater than a few days ago. And if he had fed on human blood, then he could have beaten Sal, though he wouldn’t have been able to kill him so easily.

Sal was a vampire slayer and an immortal just like him. The only difference was slayers got stronger and lived longer drinking the blood of vampires and eating their hearts. Vampires could live forever drinking the blood of humans or animals.

Both in Vincent’s eyes were monsters, and he cursed the day he was ever born a vampire. It had been more than a century since he fed on human blood. He drank animal blood and stayed away from the vampire and slayer world he grew up in. But unfortunately, when his brother came to him for help earlier this year, he was pulled back into this hell.

He was trapped in it for eternity, it seemed, or until Sal killed him. And as they continued to fight and the minutes passed and passed, and Vincent’s strength started to fade while Sal’s kept growing, Vincent wondered if it would be tonight.

Just after Sal slammed his fist into his jaw, Vincent fell to his knees. He heard a speeding car turn into the alley and screech to a halt near them just as his face slammed to the pavement. He would have turned to see who it was, but Sal now had his hand on his face, crushing it onto the cement.

When a familiar voice shouted, “Freeze!” he realized Jacob had arrived.

* * * *

Jacob flipped. Seeing Vincent on the ground and the serial killer–vampire slayer over him crushing his skull into the ground had him wanting to shoot the monster dead. But when he got his gun out and was in range to shoot, the eye of opportunity escaped. He couldn’t get a clear shot without risking shooting Vincent instead.

He asked, “What do we do now, Troy?”

“How the hell should I know?” Troy cursed as he, too, took out his gun and tried to aim it at the slayer.

Vincent shouted, “Get out of here, Jacob! I can handle this!”

The slayer laughed as he got Vincent in a headlock. “I don’t think so. Haven’t you realized I’ve been toying with you? You’ve been trying to kill me for more than half an hour and have gotten nowhere, except more tired and weaker.” The killer looked toward Jacob and then at Troy and snickered. “Did you find Jamie, Troy?”

Troy’s face turned to anger and he shouted back, “You bastard. I’m going to kill you for what you did to her. You and the rest of your sick group.”

Without looking at Troy, the killer said, “You can try, but it’ll be useless.” He grabbed Vincent from behind and twisted his arms until Vincent screamed in pain.

Jacob’s stomach wrenched when he heard Vincent’s cries. He couldn’t take seeing this slayer hurt Vincent anymore. Gesturing to Troy, he whispered, “Follow my lead.”

Placing the gun on the floor, he lifted his hands in the air. Troy did the same, then Jacob said, “Look. We put our guns down and we surrender. Now please stop hurting him.”

The killer smiled and lifted Vincent to his feet, holding his hands behind his back. He grabbed a cord from his pocket and began to tie his wrists together. “See, the cop’s smart. He knows when to give up. Why don’t you?”

He then looked at Jacob and Troy. “I’d love to help you out, Mac, but didn’t Troy tell you who I am and what I do? Letting this vampire loose is like asking me to kill one of my own. It’s against my religion.”