Vampire Dating Agency III (9 page)

CHAPTER
THIRTY-FOUR

It was a small town in the middle of
nowhere that caught their sights. They slowed down to a drift and maneuvered
their way from the main road to the side streets.

Clouds of
orange dust rose in the air as the car glided along the gravel behind a corner
store milkbar. In the rearview mirror Jason could see a nearby soccer field
where a group of kids were at practice. He shut off the ignition and leaned
back towards Nadine. “Come up here with me. Okay?”

Nadine
hesitated for a moment, then got out of the car.

Jason waited.

She climbed
back in.

“I hope I
haven’t given you the wrong impression,” Jason began. “Picking you up, I mean.
You said some pretty crazy stuff on the phone. About unfinished business and so
on. It’s … troubling to learn you haven’t moved on. But … I have…”

Nadine didn’t
seem too happy with his comments. Her expression endured some strain.

“I don’t
believe it.”

Jason
blinked. “Pardon me?”

“How … can
you move on…? I heard – I heard your girlfriend died in your arms that night –”

“Yes.”

“I heard you
almost died –”

“It was five
years ago, Nadine.”

“Don’t you
want to get this guy? He’s still out there.”

“Sure … I
wanted to get him. After it happened. Once I was out of the hospital, I tried
to involve myself with the investigation as much as I could. But ... it went
nowhere.”

“Because they
weren’t really looking. Wanted it all swept up under the carpet. Forgotten
about.”

“Those were dark
times. I wound up in hospital again four months later. Too many pills.”

“Shit.”

“Yep. Almost
killed myself over it. But … I had to move on. That was the only way to heal.
To … forgive.”

“Forgive? Are
you outta your mind?”

“Myself, I
mean.”

“Oh.”

Jason sighed.
“I understand this is your big day. Getting out and all. But you’re better off
just moving on too. There is no positive outcome.”

“And I
thought time had weakened me.”

“I’m…”

“What?”

Jason tilted
his head forward. “You know, I … I don’t want it to be bad between us. For what
it’s worth. I don’t mind talking to you for a bit. Just … I can’t be a part of
whatever you’re thinking of going forward with.”

“Why not?”

“I told you
already. I’m – I’ve moved on –”

“Seriously,
that’s a bullshit excuse. What’s it going to take for me to convince you? I
need you with me on this – I can’t do it alone. I swear to fucking Christ –”

“Well, what’s
your first move? Tell me. What crazy scheme have you been brewing on all these
years?”

Nadine shook
her head. “Our first move is getting the old team together.”

“Who does
that include then?”

“Me, you …
Riley. Dino. And … Luna, I guess.”

“Well, good
luck with that.”

“What’s that
supposed to mean?”

Jason
laughed. “I don’t know. As far as I remember, Dino hated your guts. He cut his
ties off from the paranormal police faster than any of us. In other words he
doesn’t give a shit. And – Luna? Isn’t she the reason you went to prison in the
first place?”

“What about
Riley? Surely you must be friends with her still.”

“No. No, I
haven’t heard from her in ages. I don’t know where she is. What she’s doing.
She could be anyone by now. With anyone. Doing anything.”

“So it’ll be
just the two of us then.”

“Great,”
Jason rolled his eyes. “Look … it’s not happening. The best case scenario I guess
would be to find Haley. Alive. Somewhere, somehow. And then if we decide that
The Count, or Brock or whoever is the killer – someone who hasn’t bothered us
in forever mind you – so we kill them, and then what? Feel good about things.
Justice was served? I mean, come on. I understand that need to latch onto
something. To give your life some purpose. It’s important. But … life doesn’t
work that way. It doesn’t give a fuck about us. Even with two-hundred percent
invested, we’d never get the truth out of it. We’d never find out what really
happened…”

And then
something stung him.

Something
crept into his ear.

He saw her
face again. The ghost that had driven him here.

“What is it?”
Nadine asked.

“Nothing,”
Jason muttered. “I just. I see her sometimes. Roxanne. She was trying to tell
me something before she died. I can’t remember properly though. It’s a haze.
But … she knew who it was. She
knew
who had done this to us.”

“It was both
of them,” Nadine declared. “Kendra Armistice, and her ex, the Count.”

“Kendra? What
do you mean?”

“I saw her
right before I escaped. She wasn’t dead. She’d been turned. She’d rejoined her
old family. I think … I think it was her all along. Passing those files off to
our enemies. She was playing both sides. So … they could destroy us…”

“Why didn’t I
ever hear about this?”

“Because they
didn’t want anyone to know. Just blame it all on me, and then bury the whole
division. But I’m out now. For how long, I have no idea. I’ve got to make the
most of it though. I’ve got to turn things around this time.”

Tears fell
from Nadine’s eyes.

Jason had
trouble looking at her.

“If we do
this,” he said softly. “If I choose to help you, then … there can’t be any
doubts. We can’t just go off and assume who the killer is. Who the traitor is.
Until we know for sure, we have to keep an open mind. About everything.”

Nadine
thought on what he’d said. “Alright. Agreed.”

“We need to
go back. Right to the start of this whole thing. Just look at everything that
happened. Piece by piece. See if there’s something we missed. Something that
could bring everything together.”

“Do you
really not think it’s the Count then?”

“I don’t know
who it is,” Jason said. “And that’s the problem. Because I’m not sure. I
remember how it was on the night. It’s Brock, it’s the Count – hang on its
Cyrus. No, Cyrus is dead. It’s Brock again. Then it’s the Count. I just … I
don’t want to go through that again. It should be obvious who this is. If
they’re still out there. God. I wonder if – I wonder –”

“What?”

“I wonder if
they know you were getting out today. I wonder if they know –”

Jason cut
himself short.

He looked up
into the rearview mirror again. And saw the soccer field was empty.

“You wonder
if he knows we’re coming?” Nadine finished for him.

“Yeah,” Jason
said. “Something like that.”

He pulled his
phone out from his pocket.

And was
relieved to see there were no new messages.

CHAPTER
THIRTY-FIVE

Five pm. The shadow ticks over.

All the
walls, barriers, gates and guards had been dissolved in the moving of time.
Jason and Nadine sat in the car, now parked outside their former workplace –
the Department of Paranormal Investigation. Grey walls had been painted blue.
Gardens had been planted. There was nothing secretive about this place anymore.
Because it no longer was what it used to be.

“I told you,”
Jason said. “It’s just another government building now. Look. You can get your
taxes done in here.”

“I’m going to
step out,” Nadine replied. “Look around. You coming?”

“I thought I
might call home. Tell Amelia I’m going to be late.”

“Well. When
you’re ready.”

Nadine pushed
open her door and stepped out onto the road.

Glancing back
before she made her way across, she could see Jason already had the phone to
his ear. Looking perplexed. Uncomfortable. His demeanor was almost alien to
her. For years she had dreamed of this place – of coming back here to see if it
still remained. Of course the place hadn’t been torn down, but as Jason spelled
out it no longer served the purpose they needed it to. If there was a
Paranormal Division still operating within the state, they would never find its
location. Unless it wanted them to.

Nadine took
her time as she approached the building, her bony arms wrapped around her
fragile centre. She knew she was weak. She knew that the only thing carrying
her forward was her own mind – her inner will and determination. She felt
fierce. Angry, almost. Even in the presence of this empty shell of a memory,
she could feel fragments of her old self returning. Between the seconds it was
as if no time had passed at all.

Except it
had.

Bright colors
and sunshine reigned over her as she entered the calm and inviting reception
area. Posters and signs on the walls indicated the building was multipurpose –
as in many different practices were operating independently within. She took a
few paces down the area passed the reception desk, breathing in the plant life,
trying to recall where everything should have been, as opposed to where it was
now.

“Can I help
you?” the receptionist called out behind her.

Nadine tilted
her head slightly. “Maybe.”

“Where are
you supposed to be?”

Nadine had no
direct answer. She was listening to the sounds of the room. Feeling its
vibrations. Experiencing its journey.

She turned
back to the desk.

“I used to
work here,” she confessed.

“Oh?”

“I was in
another wing. In the far west-hand side. It was quite a while ago though.”

“You don’t
mean … when it used to be…?”

“Yes,” Nadine
nodded. “I was one of the investigators.”

“Oh my God.
Is your name Nadine?”

Nadine’s eyes
flared. Her posture straightened. “Yes, that’s me.”

“We had a
call from someone a few weeks ago. They said you might turn up here.”

“Who from?”

“We didn’t
get a name. But they left you a message. I … I’ll have to look for it.”

The
receptionist got onto her knees and opened a drawer beside her.

Nadine leaned
over the desk. “Do you remember what it was?”

“List of
addresses. All local. He said you would know what they were.”

Nadine ran
her fingernails across the desk. Splashes of red shone through her mind.

“Okay. I got
it.” The receptionist stood up and Nadine snatched the paper away from her.

It was true
what she had said. There were four addresses on the paper.

One of them
she recognized.

It was
Jason’s.

“Did you
speak to him?” Nadine asked. “The person who called?”

“Yes, it was
me.”

“Well, did he
say anything else? Anything you can remember at all?”

“No,” the
receptionist said. Then she thought a moment. “Wait. There was something.”

Nadine put
her elbow to the desk. “Tell me.”

“He said
Dylan would be proud. Or something.”

“Dylan? Or
Dermott?”

“Could be
Dermott. Yes. Dermott would be proud.”

Nadine turned
back to face the way she’d came.

She suddenly
felt strong again.

CHAPTER
THIRTY-SIX

Jason’s call to his wife lasted
barely more than thirty seconds. Actually … eighteen. Eighteen seconds. He
could check that. He felt a bit strange, given the quickness of the call.
Neither of them had tried to get off prematurely, it just sort of fell out the
way it had. He obviously hadn’t told her a lick of truth about what was going
on. He knew without even asking her – without looking into her eyes – She
wouldn’t understand.

Nadine was
back at the car again. She had a piece of paper with her.

“Have a look
at this,” she said launching it across to him as she climbed in.

Jason turned
it over. He saw his address among the others.

“What’s
this?” he asked.

“The second
one is you, right?”

Jason nodded.

“So. Who do
you think the other’s belong to?”

“I don’t
know.”

Nadine took
the sheet back. “Someone called ahead here. Told them I’d be coming. Asked them
to give me this.”

“What do you
mean? Are we being followed?”

“No, they
called ahead weeks ago. It’s … it’s so bizarre … It has to be the person who got
me out.”

“And they
want you to go to these places? They want you to … visit me? Why is that?”

“I think I
know who the other addresses belong to.”

“Who?”

“Look.
There’s only three others. And there’s only three other people that are still
alive that are connected to this. Dino, Riley and Luna. I bet you … a thousand
dollars that these addresses belong to each of them.”

“Isn’t that a
reach? I mean … they could … they could go anywhere –”

“Well, I did
my research on everyone while I was locked up. I’m pretty sure that this one at
the top is Dino’s address. I had it written down at some point but it got lost.
It was just for back up anyway. In case I couldn’t get a hold of you.”

“Wait. Let’s
just … think for a moment here. Who … who is sending you this information? What
do they want you to do?”

“Well … the
lady inside said it was a man who called. Not that that means much … but …
well, she said something else too. She said that the caller said to tell me,
‘Dermott would be proud.’ Like … Cresh is supposed to be dead. But what if he’s
not? What if they covered it up? And he’s been still involved this whole time?”

“I don’t
believe it. That’s … just … too silly. He wouldn’t do that to us. He wouldn’t
allow Luna to put you away –”

“Unless he
wanted me away all along. Maybe … it was me … or it was him. You know?”

“Let’s just
stay with the facts. Anyone could call and send you that message. It could be
the killer for heaven’s sake.”

“The killer?
He’s going to get me released from prison, so I can reunite with our team of
investigators so we can go after him … because…”

“Alright,
alright. Maybe it’s not the killer. I just … don’t think we can trust whoever
is sending you this information. One of these addresses could turn out to be a
trap or something.”

“Well, at the
moment they’re all we got.”

She fell
silent.

Jason looked
out the window back towards the building. A distant sadness pierced his heart.

“So we’re
going to go down that road then,” he finally said. “We’re really going to bring
everyone back together.”

“It’s our
destiny, Jason,” Nadine said. “We need to know what happened.”

He breathed
in deeply. “You’re right. You’re so right. We fucking do.”