There was a silence.
Then Nick looked at Nadia.
“This is your ‘high value’ client?” he said, quirking an eyebrow at her. “I’d hate to meet the low-class ones.”
Nadia burst out in a laugh, her voice as musical as he remembered.
“Aw, Nick,” she said, shaking her head at him bemusedly. “It’s good to see you. I’m glad they haven’t neutered you totally.” Looking at him more intently, she motioned her head towards the interior of the office, indicating for him to follow her inside.
“You should come with us,” she added over her shoulder when Nick complied. “When we leave, I mean. If you’ve got your cop masters on your ass, just help us finish up this job. We’ll take you with us. You won’t have to deal with that shit again. No more cold blood bags. No more I.S.F. whores…”
She smirked, looking him over.
“…To be honest, I’m surprised you haven’t gone on a killing spree already. You never were one for following the rules, Naoko. When we first heard you’d reg’d with I.S.F., we all thought maybe you had brain damage from the wars. No offense.”
Shoving his hands in his pockets, he shrugged.
“None taken,” he said. “And I’d be lying if I didn’t say you’re making the right offer at the right time. I’m not about to let them reprogram my brain because of some hybrid bitch with a vampire fetish. No matter how nice her ass is.”
Nadia smiled, even as she continued to gauge his face with narrow eyes.
“Come on in then, brother,” she said after a pause, pushing the door open wider. “We won’t be long.” She gave him a mock sympathetic look. “Unless you’d rather wait for me outside? I don’t want to make you watch us kill your favorite new hybrid fuck-toy, Nick. I’d keep her for you if I could. Truly. But it’s business. You understand?”
Nick rolled his eyes, his hands still in his coat pockets as he mirrored her mocking tone.
“I think I can power through one hybrid death, Nadia.”
“Oh, good,” she said sweetly. “I’d hate to psychologically damage you in any way, brother.”
He grunted, letting it turn into a laugh.
She’d already turned her back though, and retreated back into the office.
The blond kid scowled at Nick openly, but stepped out of his way as Nick brushed past him to enter the room. Nick pretended not to notice. He strolled on by, winking at the kid as he entered the strangely round, book-lined room, his hands still in his coat pockets.
As soon as he stepped past the room’s threshold, he saw her.
Just like in the painting, she wore the kimono.
She knelt in front of him on the stone tile in front of her desk, legs splayed, blood running down her face and clumping in her hair. Blood ran over one of her legs, soaking the silk fabric of her robe. Her hands were cuffed behind her back, a dark-blue cloth gag in her mouth around bruised lips. More blood ran down her face as he watched, from a still-open cut under her hair. Her cheek was swollen on the other side from another hit.
He found himself staring, unable to look away, even though he knew Nadia was watching him.
Wynter stared back at him, hope and disbelief in her blue-green eyes once she recognized him. Those aquamarine eyes grew so wide they seemed to swallow her face.
Nick forced his eyes off her.
Making his expression indifferent, he rocked on his heels, glancing casually around the room. Books had been knocked off the shelves behind her desk. He could smell blood there, and saw that a good chunk of what had been on her desk the day before was now on the floor.
They’d brought her here.
They must have staged the struggle for some reason. It hadn’t happened here; Wynter hadn’t made it out of her house. Hell, she hadn’t even managed to change her clothes.
He wondered if they’d already been inside her house when he called.
Still, why here?
Why had they brought her here to kill?
Still glancing around the room, he assessed the dimensions of the small space. It was a good space to trap someone in. It wasn’t the best space to try and escape from, especially if you were trying to save an unarmed and easily-killed half-human.
He paused on the other occupants of the room, taking in the three, burly, male humans who stood around the walls, one behind Nadia, the other two on Nick’s left. All three wore heavily-modified plasma rifles around their backs. All three looked ex-military, and wore extensive tattoos of black-market symbols.
Definitely owned by the mafia.
Probably long-time mercs.
They probably had kill-counts that would make a vampire blush.
The humans weren’t what worried him, though.
For the same reason, the bulk of his attention remained on the female vampire, even as he took in the thick arms and torsos of the male humans.
“So what’s this all about, anyway?” he said, making his voice bored. “Is anyone going to tell me? Or is it just human bullshit?”
Nadia looked at him. Then, seeming to make up her mind about where he was coming from, she snorted out a humorous sound.
“Ask the kid.” She rolled her eyes a little as she aimed a thumb at the lanky, blond Harrison. “This is his rodeo.”
Nick looked politely at Harrison, glancing over him with mild disinterest.
“You know your mom’s in jail, right?” he said. “They think she killed your stepmom. They’re trying to blame all these other deaths on her, too.”
The kid scowled at him.
Nick didn’t see a speck of remorse in those blue eyes.
When he didn’t speak, Nick prodded him again.
“Your dad put you up to this?” he said. “This your father-son bonding thing? Being Nazis together? Sucking off Dimitry Yi and his Eifah followers?”
Nadia let out another involuntary-sounding snort.
Nick watched in the periphery of his vision as the female vampire walked closer to Wynter, surveying her shrewdly as if assessing how she looked in the bindings. Nadia walked up behind Wynter and checked the handcuffs, frowning at the cut on her head.
“Come on,” she said, looking to the three males. “Get her up. We can’t leave her in these cuffs too long. We need her standing. So the blood spatters right.”
Nick frowned.
He glanced between the four mercs and the tall blond kid.
“Ah,” he said after a pause. “You can’t pin this one on dear old mom, can you? The cops have her. So what’s the story on this one? A burglar? Attempted rape?”
Nick quirked an eyebrow, glancing back at Wynter.
She was staring up at him, only him, terror in her eyes.
He tore his gaze away with an effort, without changing expression.
“So, what is it?” Nick said, looking between Nadia and Harrison. “What’s the story? Suicide? Do people really commit suicide over embarrassment anymore? Or were you going to make it some angst-race thing? Like she can’t handle the fear of being outed as a hybrid?”
The kid scowled harder, but folded his arms, clearly unwilling to answer him.
Nadia didn’t have the same compunction.
“The mother accused her of trying to molest her kid,” she said, shrugging as she surveyed Wynter with an assessing stare. “Anyway, the kid wanted to kill this one himself. So we thought we’d stage it as an attempted molestation gone wrong.”
Nick snorted, glancing at Harrison.
“Think anyone’s going to believe that? That it’s self-defense?”
Nadia shrugged. “She’s a hybrid. Once they run the blood tests, of course they’ll believe it. His father will back him up… isn’t that right, sweetie?” she said, aiming her words at Wynter as she jabbed her thigh with a booted foot. “We’ve got a gun registered in her name. She had it at her house. So they wrestle for the gun—”
“—The gun goes off,” Nick finished for her, gesturing with a hand.
“Precisely,” Nadia said. Shrugging at him
almost apologetically, she added, “It’s crude. I know. But the kid with the blue hair was going to be a witness. And we have people on the inside who’ll make sure all the forensics evidence lines up.”
Nick nodded, keeping his expression flat.
Casually, he said, “You’re assuming the cops won’t care about the painting, then?”
Nadia looked up, sharp.
Frowning, she stared at him.
“How the fuck would you know that, Naoko?” she said.
Nick returned her suddenly-wary stare.
After a pause, he shrugged. “I’m a Midnight,” he said. “I’ve been on the case. I was there when they found the third painting.”
“What third painting?”
“It was at St. Maarten’s place. When they arrested her.”
There was a silence where the three male humans and Nadia exchanged looks. Then Nadia scowled, looking back at Nick.
“Fuck,” she said. “Really?”
Nick nodded. “The cops haven’t had time to do much with it yet. But if you kill her here, with some cockamamie story, they’re going to ask questions.” Pausing, he added, glancing at Harrison. “He’s not in the painting, but you four are,” he said, glancing around at the mercs. He nodded down at Wynter. “So is she. Wearing the same robe.”
Nadia scowled, looking at the other three.
“Who the fuck is painting those damned things?” she said, still scowling as she looked back at Nick. “Do you know?”
Nick shrugged. “No idea. St. Maarten knows, but she’s not talking. Not yet, anyway. That might change after they’ve had her under interrogation for a few weeks… especially if they get warrants to conduct vampire interrogations.”
Nadia’s frown deepened.
Staring down at Wynter, she pursed her lips, thinking.
“Fuck,” she said.
Looking at the kid, she aimed her frown at him. “Change of plans, kid. We’re going to have to do this a different way.”
Harrison’s bow-shaped mouth twisted into an angry scowl. He looked about to speak, but she held up a hand before he could.
“You can still shoot her,” she clarified. “But not here.” She motioned towards Wynter. “I know you wanted your rape story, but this one’s going to have to disappear. We’ll take her to one of the dome doors, shoot her, and throw her outside. By the time they find her, assuming they do find her, there won’t be enough of her left to trace it back to you. Okay?”
Harrison folded his arms, looking angry.
“I know it’s not what you wanted,” Nadia said, patient. “But it might be the best we can do. You don’t want to go to jail, do you, kid?”
Harrison aimed his curled lip at Nick, then back at Nadia.
Before he could speak, Nadia aimed her next words at Nick.
“There’s no chance they’re coming up here tonight?” she said.
Nick shook his head, watching Harrison warily. “They just arrested St. Maarten. They’re busy with her… and with the media blowback from the whole thing.” He motioned towards Harrison with his jaw and head. “If they come up here anytime soon, it’d probably be for him.”
Ignoring Harrison’s angry glare, Nick looked back at Nadia.
“You can’t see the hybrid’s face in the painting,” he added, motioning towards Wynter without looking at her. “So unless my partner recognizes her office well enough to track it up here, and has some specific reason to worry about you moving on her, tonight, with their only suspect in custody… I wouldn’t worry.”
“Shit.” She laughed. “Her face isn’t even in the painting? Seriously?”
Nick nodded. “All you can see is her leg and part of the robe.”
When Nadia burst out in another laugh, Nick added,
“…Anyway, their big concern with the paintings was thinking the artist might be a suspect. Now that they think they caught the murderer, none of that will be a priority.”
“Is there any reason they’d check the kid?” Nadia said, jerking her chin towards Harrison. “Is it safe to let him shoot her?”
Nick shrugged. “I’m sure it’s fine.”
Nadia looked at Harrison Kingsworth, who still stood there, arms crossed in front of his chest. He was glaring around at all of them now, like he couldn’t believe no one was paying attention to him.
“Well?” Nadia said. “How’s that sound?”
“My father’s coming up here,” he said, scowling. “I already called him.”
“So? Call him back.”
Harrison shook his head, scowling harder.
“It’s too late.” He gave Nick a surly look. “Anyway, you’re missing the point. He needs to see her. He needs to know I killed her… and why.”
Nadia sighed, as if she was dealing with a much younger child.
“Can’t you just tell him?” she suggested. “Tell him she hit on you, and you shot her. Tell her we took care of the body—”
“No!”
“Why? What difference does it make?”
He shook his head angrily, refolding his arms.
“It’s not the same—” he began angrily.
“Life is all about compromise, kid.”
Frowning, still thinking, the female vampire watched Harrison’s face.
“We could photograph it, as long as none of us are in the image,” she offered. “Your dad will get the point, if you show him images of this dead hybrid bitch’s face.” She aimed a finger at Wynter, the shotgun still propped on her shoulder. “We could still kill her somewhere else. A place that’s got no connection to your family—”
“No,” Harrison snapped. “I’m paying. I say how we do this… and I say we kill her here. He needs to see this. He needs to see it. Or the deal’s off.”
Nick stared at the kid, frowning.
He felt a little sick when he realized maybe he did understand, after all.
“You’re the Dimitry Yi fanatic, aren’t you?” he said, his voice coming out cold. “Not your dad, like your mother thinks… you. You’re the one who bought all the books, watched all the videos… who pledged allegiance to the blood, purity, and soil bullshit.”
Nick’s lip curled involuntarily, even as he glanced at Wynter.
“I’m guessing you were the one who told your dad about it, too… not the reverse,” Nick said. “I bet you did everything you could to recruit him to the cause, knowing Dimitry Yi would probably offer to blow you himself, if you delivered the governor of the New York Protected Area into the fold. What a coup, am I right? You probably thought you’d succeeded, too… at least until you found out about Gavin’s embarrassing little fetish for hybrid pussy.”
Harrison’s stare turned murderous.
Still, he didn’t speak, only folded his arms tighter.
“So… what now?” Nick said.
He motioned towards Wynter on the floor, that time without looking at her.
“…Is this supposed to bring Daddy to heel? Force him to re-commit to the cause?”
He paused at the other’s silence.
“What if daddy says no?” Nick said. “What if Governor Gavin gets mad you killed his hot, hybrid girlfriend to appease your fucked-up God-man? What if he doesn’t have your lust for blood? What if he won’t agree to toe the line from now on?”
“Then he dies, too,” the kid snapped.
Nick fell silent, staring at him.
Harrison glared right back at him, unapologetic. “He won’t say no. Do you really think he’d pick some disgusting, filth-blood bitch over me?” He gave Wynter a look as if she repulsed him. “He’s had dozens of these whores. Why would he care?”
“What about the next one?” Nick said mildly. “You going to kill her, too?”
Harrison turned on him, his blue eyes blazing.
“There won’t be a ‘next one,’” he snapped. “This is the end of it. He just needs help—”
“Help?” Nick snorted in derision. “Because they’re what… hypnotizing him with their magic, hybr
id vaginas?”
At Harrison’s silence, Nick rolled his eyes.
“Give me a break, kid,” he said. “Your dad fucks hybrids because he gets off on it. He gets off on the power he has over them. He gets off on the fact that it’s ‘dirty.’ He gets off on the fact that he’s getting away with something his fucked up, racist brain tells him is ‘naughty.’ I give it two months before he finds a new one. Tops.”
There was a silence.
Nick could see that the kid wanted to say something to him.
Probably something about Nick’s own half-human status. Given Nadia standing there, holding a shotgun on her shoulder, her eyes bright scarlet, he probably didn’t dare.
Nick let out a derisive snort, looking at Nadia.
“Jesus, Nadia. You work for this piece of shit?”
The female vampire shrugged, giving Harrison a dismissive look.
“His money smells sweet to me.” She quirked an eyebrow at Nick. “Pretty rich coming from you, anyway, Naoko. Given some of the people you’ve worked for over the years.”
Nick had to concede the point, shrugging.
He continued to stare at the blond kid, although his attention never really left the female vampire as she circled around Wynter.
“Come on,” Nadia said. “Let’s get this bitch out of here. I want this done.” She gave Nick a hard look. “You sure they won’t have any surveillance out on the street? Any extra patrols or anything, checking out the school?”
Nick shrugged. “Reasonably sure. Like I said, they aren’t even looking up here right now. It was quiet as a tomb out when I got here.”
“Good enough.” She grinned at him. “You’re still pretty useful, Tanaka. I’m looking forward to doing jobs with you again. It’s been too long.”
Nick grunted, but gave her a half-smile.
Turning from him, Nadia gave the three male humans level stares.
“Fine,” she said, clearly making up her mind. “We take her to the dome. Masks and plasmas. They’ve already seen the painting, so nothing we can do about that.” She looked at Nick. “You’ve seen it. Anything we need to know?”
Nick shook his head, glancing around at the three male humans.
Vampire Detective Midnight Page 28
