Vengeance in Blood (Book 2): Tribulations (29 page)

“If you say so. I would rather be on that boring ass plane,” Kenneth admitted, looking at the rearview mirror, almost expecting pursuit but didn’t notice anything.

“Planes left,” Besseta told him.

Kenneth hit the steering wheel, making Besseta wonder what he heard now. “That pisses me off; we don’t get that money back,” he said with a serious face.

“Hey, we are alive and not captured. I’ll take the loss of cash.” Besseta grinned. “Where are we heading?”

“A place with a lot of people,” Kenneth said. “Hang around and wait till dark; then, one of you can give me a piggy back ride.”

“So we giving up on driving out?” Besseta asked.

Glancing over, Kenneth admitted, “I don’t know how they keep finding us. We won’t stay lucky for much longer if we keep getting in car chases no matter what Tiffany thinks.”

Besseta relaxed and listened to Kenneth’s multitude of thoughts slowly dissipate, and she felt he was afraid not for himself but for her. “Baby, they aren’t smarter than you. They have more money than I do, so they can afford more stuff. They have entire governments behind them. Sometimes, like I’ve told you, numbers win.”

Sighing, Kenneth nodded. “This isn’t right; they had sightings of wolf-like beasts in Boston a month ago. They already searched here, so why are they here?”

“Beats me, but they can stay here. When the sun sets, we are gone,” Besseta told him.

“You can’t follow roads,” he said, shocking her.

She thought for a minute. “Well, I’ll take the waterways.”

Not even going to ask how, Kenneth just nodded. “Here we go,” Kenneth said, pulling over to the exit lane. Besseta looked up, seeing a massive mall ahead.

“You really think this is a good time to shop?” Besseta laughed.

“Yeah, for a hiding place.” He grinned. Pulling into the mall, Kenneth drove past the outdoor parking, heading to the parking garage. Finding an empty spot, he parked. “Stay close,” he said as he got out.

Besseta looked at her watch and saw they had over three hours until sunset. Walking around the back of the Hummer, she slung the backpack on. Getting on Kenneth’s right, Tiffany moved over to his left as he led them inside.

When Kenneth led them to an employee’s entrance that went behind the stores, Besseta was shocked, expecting to just wander around. Walking down the long hallway, Kenneth stopped beside a ladder. Making sure no one was coming, he scurried up the ladder and opened the door. Looking around, he saw the wiring over the tile of the store’s roof below. Liking the maintenance area to hold up, Kenneth smiled.

He climbed up, motioning them to follow. When they were in, they looked around as Kenneth sat down. “Let them find us here,” he challenged.

“If a vamp or wolf shows up, they will,” Besseta reminded him.

With the wind blown out of his sails, Kenneth slumped his shoulders. “It’s not fair; the other side has those to.”

Feeling bad, Besseta moved over to him. “Don’t worry; this should hide us till dark.”

“I want you two to stay here,” Kenneth said, moving to the hatch.

Moving over to block his way, Besseta asked, “Whoa, where are you going?”

“Going to get you two something else to wear and find a map of this place. I don’t like being somewhere I don’t know how to get out of,” he said, opening the hatch.

“Let us come with you,” Besseta said.

Kenneth smiled. “This is what I do; don’t worry.”

Besseta moved back as Kenneth dropped down the ladder, and she closed the hatch. “Don’t worry; Kenneth is a total bad ass,” Tiffany informed her.

Not able to deny that, Besseta said, “Yes he is, but I’m sure they are getting ready to send in the ones we need to take care of.”

Letting out a sigh, Tiffany lay down and said, “Well, that was still exciting.”

Chapter 20

Almost an hour passed before the hatch opened up, and Kenneth climbed up. “Put this on,” he told them, handing over bags. Tiffany ripped off her dress, startling Kenneth and making him spin around. Besseta laughed, stripping off her dress and opening the bag.

Inside, she found khaki slacks, a polo shirt, and a blazer with black tennis shoes. Dressing quickly, Besseta looked up to find Tiffany dressed just like her. “Put your ID in your pocket, and pull your hair back to look like agents,” Kenneth told them. They did what he asked and tucked their guns in their backs.

“Follow me, and don’t step on that white tile, or you will fall into the store below,” he warned, leading them down the catwalk.

“What did you find out?” Besseta asked, giving up trying to listen to the roaring thoughts in Kenneth’s mind.

“They’re here,” Kenneth answered, dejected.

Besseta ran up, grabbing his arm. “You heard it on the radio?”

He shook his head. “No, saw two of them. I think they are putting out false reports now, knowing I’m listening.”

“Change frequency,” she suggested.

“How about let’s just get the hell out of here?” he offered.

Nodding, she said, “I like that plan better.”

Kenneth led them to the other side of the mall and headed to the other end from where they entered. Finding an access point, Kenneth listened but didn’t hear anything. He looked up at Besseta.

“I don’t hear anything down there,” she told him.

Opening the hatch, they climbed down and continued heading to the end of the mall. As they walked down the hall, Kenneth started getting nervous. They hadn’t passed any employees. As they came to a junction, a figure wearing a silver metallic suit with a hood that had a large, one-way window stepped around the corner followed by two men carrying large flashlights.

“Oh man, come on,” Kenneth said as the two men raised the lights, turning them on. Hearing the two behind him groaning, Kenneth walked toward the figure in the silver suit. “I’m going to kick your ass,” Kenneth growled.

The figure lifted his arms, motioning Kenneth forward. “I’ll let you have the first hit,” a muffled male voice said under the silver hood.

Taking his hands out of his pockets, Kenneth said, “Tell me if this hurts,” as the light burned his skin.

“Take your best shot, then I get to do the same,” the muffled voice said.

Swinging his right arm wide, Kenneth hit the figure in the neck with the side of his fist. When Kenneth’s hit landed, he twisted his wrist and heard a small pop. The figure shook with a moan for a second and dropped to the floor.

As the figure landed, Kenneth brought up his gun. “I really hate those fucking lights,” he said, squeezing the trigger twice, filling the small hall with the thunder of the gunshots and hitting both men in the face.

Trotting over, he turned off the lights then ran back to Besseta, who was already standing and helping Tiffany up. “The one in the suit is a vampire,” Besseta said, panting.

“Yeah, I figured that out when he walked around the corner,” Kenneth said. “We need to run.” Kenneth turned around, sprinted to the junction, and headed left.

As the girls ran past the shiny figure, they saw a glass rod sticking out of the neck where Kenneth hit it. Breaking into a run, they followed Kenneth to a door that read Parking Garage. Kenneth slowly eased the door open and walked out.

When the girls moved over to him, Kenneth motioned them close. “They’re here, so quiet. Let me shoot,” he whispered, and they nodded. Moving his trench coat back, Kenneth lifted the submachine gun and walked between the wall and line of vehicles.

With the echoes, Besseta could hear movement other than them but couldn’t tell where it or the smell of people were coming from. Suddenly, Kenneth ran between two cars, stopping in the roadway and bringing up the submachine gun. The gun coughed in his hands, and Kenneth spun around, shooting three more times.

Taking a hand off the submachine gun, Kenneth motioned them over. When they joined him, they saw two men on the floor behind him and three in front. “Tiffany, can you open the cover on the back of that truck?” Kenneth asked, pointing at a monster quad cab 4x4 with a fiberglass cover over the bed.

The lock clicked, and the cover lifted. “Can I get you two to throw them in? I’ll cover,” he said.

They didn’t answer and darted out, pulling the bodies over and tossing them in the bed of the truck before the cover finished opening. Climbing up on the rear bumper, Kenneth closed the cover. “Tiffany, can you start it?” he asked, jumping down, and the engine roared to life as the locks clicked. “Man, we could make some serious money jacking cars.” Kenneth laughed, running for the driver’s door.

Everyone ran for the doors and climbed in. Backing out slowly, Kenneth drove out of the parking garage like nothing was amiss. Pulling out, he smiled, seeing the sun getting close to the horizon. Driving through the parking lot then around the mall, Kenneth eased onto the road. Pulling up to a stop light, he merged into the turning lane for the interstate as a line of cop cars with lights and sirens blaring came toward them in the oncoming lane.

Getting nervous as the gap between them and the cop cars closed, Kenneth sighed as the cops flew past, heading to the mall. The light changed, and Kenneth flowed with the traffic onto the interstate. Staying at the speed limit, Kenneth kept glancing around.

“What the hell was that glass rod?” Tiffany asked behind him.

Kenneth dug in his pocket and pulled something out. “One of these,” he said, holding up a handful of glass thermometers. “There was only so much I could get from a pharmacy to fight with.”

Staring at the thermometers like they were going to attack her, Tiffany didn’t say anything until Kenneth put them back in his pocket. “You are very resourceful, Kenneth,” she sighed, happy the thermometers were out of sight.

Besseta reached over and pulled Kenneth’s seatbelt over him and locked it. “Before you act crazy again,” she smiled, sitting back. “I take it you spotted them at the mall?”

Nodding as he adjusted the rearview mirror, he said, “Yeah, saw two and knew they had us. They’ve got to have several hundred agents here to set up on us that fast.”

Staying at the speed limit, Kenneth flowed with the traffic out of the city. As the area around them slowly turned to houses, Besseta looked over. “You knew that mister silver was a vampire?”

“Well yeah,” Kenneth nodded. “Why else would he need a fire suit?”

Reaching over, Besseta rested her hand on Kenneth’s thigh and gave a gentle squeeze as she sat, amazed how fast Kenneth took in information. “I didn’t know it till after you killed him. That’s when I smelled him,” she admitted. “I really thought it was a human because I smelled your skin burning when that light hit us.”

Bouncing off the back seat, Tiffany stuck her head between the front seats. “Can we shoot some more bad guys?”

Hearing the excitement in her voice, Kenneth couldn’t help but chuckle. “Hopefully not today,” he said, and Tiffany frowned. “Don’t worry, Tiffany. I’ll find you some later you can ‘pop a cap in,’” he promised, seeing her frown.

Jerking her head up, a smile filled her face. “Man, we have been in a car chase, shoot outs, fights, and jacking cars…” she said in awe. “We really need to do this more often,” she finished, making Besseta laugh and worrying Kenneth.

When they were out of the city, Kenneth took a rural exit and drove out into the countryside. Soon, trees and fields were around them. They all kept glancing at the sun, wishing it would hurry up and drop out of the sky.

Glancing over, Besseta noticed Kenneth’s body was rigid as he drove, periodically glancing in the mirrors. “No more than an hour, babe,” Besseta said, squeezing Kenneth’s thigh again.

“HOLY SHIT!” Kenneth screamed, stomping on the brakes. The truck vibrated as Besseta looked forward, seeing a helicopter shoot between the trees and hover a few feet over the road, blocking it. The side door was open, and she saw a man aiming a rifle at them.

The end of the rifle flashed. Besseta heard the crunch of glass and Kenneth grunt. Before she looked away from the helicopter, she saw the rifle flash in rapid succession, hearing thumps on the truck and steam rolling out from under the hood, obscuring her view of the helicopter just before her eyes landed on Kenneth.

His jaw was clenched tight as he yanked the steering wheel to the right and stomped on the gas. The smell of blood flooded the cab of the truck as the truck dropped down in the ditch and shot out the other side. Kenneth steered them through a fence into a pasture with cows running everywhere.

Raising her hand off Kenneth’s leg to feel where he was hit, Besseta saw the helicopter out his window flying parallel to them and slowly pull ahead. Then like a giant hand grabbed it, the helicopter crumpled into a ball no bigger than a compact car.

The ball crashed down as Besseta turned to the backseat just in time to see Tiffany’s eyes roll to the back of her head. Letting out a groan, Tiffany slid out of the seat into the floorboard. Feeling a hand grab hers, Besseta turned to see Kenneth.

“We’re in deep shit,” he groaned, and once again, Besseta’s mind was filled with the roaring of thoughts.

“Stop the truck. I have to see how bad it is,” Besseta commanded, feeling tears come to her eyes as the smell of blood became stronger.

Keeping his foot on the gas, Kenneth shook his head as the engine knocked and groaned, speeding across the pasture. Ripping the steering wheel side to side, Kenneth dodged the running cattle. “We are in a field, baby. We can’t stop,” he told her.

Not really caring, Besseta turned to look out and saw Kenneth was heading toward a barn at the edge of the field. “Baby, you’re bleeding bad. Stop,” she said with her voice breaking.

“Rip the sleeve off my coat,” Kenneth told her. Besseta reached up and ripped the sleeve, pulling it off his arm. Taking the cloth, Kenneth leaned back, shoving it under the bulletproof vest. Besseta saw a hole in Kenneth’s shirt almost in the middle of his abdomen.

Looking down, she saw the top of his pants were soaked in blood. “Stop the fucking truck so I can work on you,” she whimpered.

“In a second,” Kenneth grunted, shoving the cloth against his wound. “More will be coming, and I have to get you out of here.”

“Don’t worry about me!” she yelled as Kenneth took his foot off the gas. Looking out, Besseta saw the barn as Kenneth pulled past it and stopped at the tree line. Before she turned back, Kenneth was jumping out of the truck.

He looked back and saw Tiffany still passed out. “Grab Tiffany, and let’s get out of here and into the trees,” he told her, ripping the sleeve off his other arm.

Kicking her door open, Besseta jumped out and yanked the back door open and pulled Tiffany out. Throwing Tiffany over her shoulder, Besseta heard more helicopters getting close as she darted around the front of the truck.

Stopping, she saw Kenneth shoving cloth under the vest at his back, and Besseta realized the bullet had gone through him. “Kenneth, let me see the wound,” she demanded.

Stepping over, Kenneth grabbed her arm, pulling her toward the trees. “Baby, if we don’t get out of here fast, it won’t matter,” he said, nodding his head back toward the sound of helicopters. “They will just add more holes to my body.”

Fear spread through her as Besseta held Tiffany tight, passing Kenneth and dragging him by his arm through the trees. Feeling Kenneth stumble, she stopped and picked him up and took off running again.

She was running faster than a human could ever hope to run, but with all the added weight and the last rays of sunlight still pouring through the trees, it was taking a toll on her body. Her legs started to go numb from the exertion, making her stumble as she fought to stay upright.

Dodging around a tree, Besseta lost her footing, and all three crashed to the ground. Kenneth and Tiffany rolled over the ground, coming to a stop several yards from her. Jumping up, Besseta ran over to Kenneth, who was getting up.

Sweat was pouring off his sunburned face as he blinked, wanting the world to quit spinning. “They’re coming,” he groaned, pulling out his pistol. He heard several helicopters land in the field.

“Baby,” Besseta cried, hugging him.

Kenneth pushed her back and looked down into her eyes and smiled. “Hey, don’t worry,” he said. “Let’s kill these guys, and you can take me to a vet and have him stitch me up. It’ll cost some serious money, but we don’t want anyone finding out about a gunshot.”

Hearing that Kenneth had a plan calmed Besseta, and she smiled. “Okay, but don’t do anything,” she said, hearing people running through the brush behind them.

Kenneth felt her body trembling and knew some of it was fear for him, but it was mostly that Besseta’s body was tired. “See if you can wake Tiffany,” he said, looking over Besseta’s head toward the sound of people running through the woods. “We’re going to need her fast.”

Letting him go, Besseta dropped down and started slapping Tiffany’s face. “Tiffany, wake up; they’re coming, and I need you,” Besseta yelled.

Feeling her face getting slapped, Tiffany’s eyes fluttered open. “Stop hitting me,” she moaned.

Besseta slapped her one more time, and Tiffany’s eyes flared open. “We are in serious trouble. They’re almost here; quit acting like a sissy,” Besseta said in a lower voice, hearing the group getting closer. “I smell at least one vampire, but others are coming. I can smell them far off.”