For the next few minutes, I concentrated on not losing Mowry and not being spotted and not driving the car straight into one of the bigger holes on the pockmarked street. After crossing the open expanse, the cult leader made his way under a railroad viaduct and rounded the corner going west.
A few moments later, I did the same.
This was a neighborhood of sorts, old houses and two-flats mixed in with some businesses across from the railroad. The slope down from the tracks was a concrete wall that had been muralized by young urban artists.
The street itself was deserted. No Mowry. No cult members.
I thought about calling in, but to say what? That I’d followed Mowry and lost him?
I parked the car, got out and looked around, checking between each building as I moved down the street. Footsteps again. I whirled around to find Jake right behind me.
“What the hell! Why are you after Mowry?”
“I’m not. I’m after watching your back,” he added.
I didn’t disbelieve him, but I was disconcerted. For a few seconds the moonlight tricked me into believing his eyes glowed, and his teeth, revealed by an amused-with-me smile, seemed extra white and long. Then I blinked and vanquished the illusion.
What if Jake were the danger? How did I know he wasn’t the one draining young women of their blood? I didn’t know that. However, I also wasn’t afraid of him. Not in the physical ow-you-hurt-me sense. He’d had a couple of opportunities to take advantage of me when we’d been alone and he’d passed on them.
Jake was standing very still, swiveling only his head as if it were a finely tuned antenna. At the same time, he held up his finger to his lips, indicating I shouldn’t say anything. What was he listening to? I didn’t hear a sound except the light traffic on the nearby expressway.
But suddenly he said, “This way,” and crossed the street.
Following, I asked, “Where?”
What had he heard? Did he mean to climb the concrete incline to the railroad tracks? But as we drew closer, I saw it—the outline of a door set into the mural itself.
How in the world had he seen that from a distance and in the dark?
I didn’t have time to ask questions, because Jake was already opening the door. No doubt any sound would carry through the tunnel beneath the railroad tracks.
He entered first.
The cavernous area was dark and musty smelling. I listened hard but the only sound I heard was a nearby scrabbling, like claws on metal.
Rats? I shivered. I hated rats.
Choking back my distaste, I whispered, “Which way?”
Jake murmured ahead, “Follow the voices.”
“What voices?”
Was Jake kidding or had he really heard something? I stumbled through the dark after him, hoping I wasn’t making a big mistake.
Gradually, the darkness lifted like a veil being raised a bit at a time, and a soft pool of light ahead acted as a beacon. My eyes adjusted and I could see furniture: upholstered chairs and couches, carpets and small tables, all heavily worn but still functional. The area was set up like a big rumpus room minus the electronic equipment. The light itself came from kerosene lamps, the kind people used when they went camping.
“Wh-what’s happening?” a soft female voice asked.
“I just gave you a little something to make you feel better.”
“Mowry,” I whispered.
“But I wasn’t feeling bad!” the young woman protested.
“But I was. You have something I need, my pretty. And you did say you wanted to be one of us.”
She whimpered and cried out.
I could see her now, the new one, the non-Goth. She was sprawled in a chair, two of Mowry’s minions pinning her shoulders so she couldn’t get up. Mowry straightened; he was holding a thin-bladed knife. Dark red fluid coated the tip, and I could see that he’d cut the inside of her arm. Blood spilled over her pale flesh.
Blood rushed and echoed through my head at the discovery. Was this it, then? Was he the one draining young women of their blood? I couldn’t let him do it, not even if I had to blow my cover.
I unsnapped my holster and rushed forward. “Leave her alone!” My hand hovered in back of me near my gun. I didn’t want to pull it unless they gave me no other choice.
Mowry said, “Well, well, look who we have here.”
His followers forgot about the girl and closed rank around him. In addition to the two guys who’d come from the bar with him, there were two more. And two young women in a state of half dress. It was obvious to me that these girls hadn’t been coerced into anything. They watched the scenario with eager gazes and moist lips.
I recognized blood lust when I saw it.
“Let the girl be,” I said quietly, sensing Jake right behind me. “Let her go.”
I knew I was good, but as the cult members got closer, I wondered if I could possibly fight them all off and free the girl.
“You’re not the one to give orders here,” Mowry said.
One of the half-dressed young women moved forward and curled herself around the leader’s back. “You tell her, Elvie.”
Before I had to see exactly how good I was, Jake slid beside me and wrapped an arm around my middle, as if to remind me that I wasn’t alone. I couldn’t explain why I trusted him at this moment, but my instincts told me he was on my side and to play along.
“Silke told me you were having people tonight,” he said in a party voice. “We thought we’d join you.”
I hadn’t told him any such thing. His hands were all over me. Then he bent over and nuzzled my neck. I flushed at the touch of his lips against my flesh, and for a moment, lost my concentration. Then I snapped to and fought the sensations going through my head. Having all my faculties was critical.
And yet, when I glanced at Mowry and company, they had all relaxed their stances. Mowry himself seemed to be enjoying my position, and something told me he wanted some of that for himself.
Instinct drove me to wrap my arms around Jake’s middle. I felt his hand on my back. He slid it down to my waist, paused there when he encountered the holster, and then moved the hand around to my side. He couldn’t have missed my piece, but he didn’t react.
“This doesn’t seem like my kind of party, after all,” I said, making myself sound bored. “Not hers, either.” I looked directly at the new girl in the chair. She couldn’t hide her fright. “You want to leave, right?”
She nodded. “Yes, please.”
“Come on, then,” Jake said, holding out his hand.
I could tell that though he was looking straight at her, he somehow had his eyes on every person in the room. Tension was palpable and I prepared myself for trouble.
The girl stumbled out of the chair over to us. Amazingly, Mowry and his boys didn’t try to stop her. Maybe we would get out of this without casualty, after all, I thought gratefully, as Jake put his free arm around the girl to steady her.
“See you tomorrow night,” he told Mowry as he started backing us all away.
Mowry seemed to grow taller and his men closed ranks around him. Whatever Mowry had planned, I knew I wasn’t going to like it. My pulse tick-tick-ticked more and more rapidly, and my senses all heightened.
“Little Annie can go,” Mowry said. “But I need someone to take her place.”
I glanced at the other two girls. I was assuming he wouldn’t kill them, but I couldn’t take that chance with Annie. Not even if it meant destroying my cover.
“You have a couple of willing women to choose from.”
“But it’s fresh blood I’m after.”
No doubt in my mind that he meant me.
“Not tonight, and definitely not Silke here,” Jake said, keeping up the pretense though I was certain by now he knew that I wasn’t Silke.
We were almost to the door. I knew that because it was becoming impossible to see again. The dark folded around us like a shroud. And I heard that scrabbling sound again.
“Let’s
get out of here,” Jake murmured as he let go of me.
“You’ll get no argument here,” I said, every one of my senses at the alert.
Still, I hesitated, giving him a minute to get Annie out of there. If necessary, I would be the diversion. And it seemed as if I would get that very opportunity.
Bodies swirled around me even as I heard the outside door click open and Jake say, “Get out of here, Annie…now!”
I turned to follow and ran straight into the cult leader himself.
Wind blew in from the open door, and a combination of moon-and streetlight penetrated, too, enough that I could see Mowry’s face. His pretty features were twisted in anger and something else that looked amazingly like lust.
But what kind of lust? Blood lust or the simple old-fashioned kind?
Whichever, I wasn’t open for business.
But before I could get out of his way, he grabbed on to my arm.
I swung out to deter him, and the flesh of my other arm met a sharp blade for my trouble. I couldn’t help the cry that escaped my throat.
“What happened?” Jake demanded.
“Cut!” I gasped, not wanting to let down my guard for an instant.
The two girls moved closer, bringing with them the kerosene lamps. Apparently, they thought they were missing out on the fun. Mowry’s men were between me and Jake, whose eyes glittered with anger. The blood oozing from my flesh had me royally pissed. I feinted and got Mowry off guard, then moved in and smashed one of Silke’s thick-soled Doc Martens into the side of his knee.
Mowry was ready for me and the blow glanced off his leg as he moved fast. At most, he missed a beat.
“You’ll have to do better than that,” he said, laughing, the sound echoing through the tunnel.
“Oh, I think I can manage,” I said as I felt a fresh rush of adrenaline pump through me.
The problem was, not counting the women, there were five of them to one of me. I was good, but I didn’t know if I was good enough to take on so many and be able to make it out of there in one piece. Of course there was Jake on my side, as well, but he was an unknown quantity. If nothing else, he could serve as a distraction.
As a last resort, I reminded myself, there was always my weapon. A gun tended to even things up when the numbers were skewed.
I let Mowry come for me. When he got close enough, I elbowed him in the sternum. He paused with a gasp and I danced around him and got a few feet closer to the outside door.
Then all hell broke loose. I was aware of Mowry’s men attacking Jake. I would have helped him out, but I had the leader himself on my back. Literally. And his steely arm was around my throat. I couldn’t breathe. I began to see stars. Pressure built in my chest and head even as I stepped back and slammed my heel down hard on his foot. He muffled his curse but loosened his grip. I gasped for air, filled my deprived lungs and brain with it.
Silke’s distress distracted me for a second. This time I pushed her away before she got me hurt.
Then I felt Mowry’s free hand slide between my thighs. I saw red. I dug into the flesh of his underarm and twisted—one of my favorite defense moves, crude but effective. This time his curse filled the cavernous space as he let go. I whipped around and grabbed him between the thighs and twisted there, too. He howled and went down to his knees.
“Elvie!” one of the females shrieked.
I registered a serious scuffle a few yards away and realized Jake was still fighting off the other four. I thought to help him, but Mowry was staggering to his feet, and I realized he was about to throw himself at me. I whirled and kicked out, planning to put him out of commission, but he somehow managed to grab my leg. I flipped and went down hard.
The other hip this time.
When Mowry descended on me, I rolled fast and he landed on the ground, facedown. I kicked out, smacking him in the side of the head—one of my all-time favorite offensive moves—and bounded to my feet.
“You bitch!”
The vamp girl came for me, clawed fingers going for my face. Not really wanting to hurt her—she might be idiot enough to be with Mowry, but she probably wasn’t lethal—I grabbed her arm and threw my weight down against her body so she lost her footing and collapsed on top of her beloved leader.
“Get off me!” he howled.
Catching my breath, I turned to help Jake in time to see him pick up one of Mowry’s minions and throw him against the other three. And I gaped when they all went down like so many bowling pins. Good grief, he was strong!
“Let’s go!” he said, holding out his hand.
He didn’t have to say it twice. I jumped over the sprawled bodies and grabbed on to his hand, and we burst into the night together.
I quickly looked around. The street was deserted.
“Annie…where is she? I didn’t think she’d get too far drugged.”
Jake was concentrating—doing his human-antenna act just as he had before we’d gone into the nest.
“Gone. She was a little woozy but she wasn’t totally out of it. The night air probably sobered her fast.”
“And the fear,” I said, checking to make sure members of the vampire cult hadn’t followed us out to the street. “Fear can do that to you.”
“You know that bears some discussion, but not here. Car keys.” Jake held out his hand.
“I can drive,” I insisted, limping to my vehicle.
“You’re bleeding.”
So I was. The cut had been aggravated by the fight. I bent my elbow at the arm and raised my hand so the wound was above my heart in hopes that would stop the bleeding. What it did was dangle my keys directly in front of Jake’s face. He snatched them from my hand, unlocked the Camaro and held open the passenger door.
“Get in.”
I’d had enough conflict for one day. I did as he ordered, telling myself I could better tend to the cut if I wasn’t driving. I buckled up and put pressure below the wound in hopes it would stop bleeding.
At the same time, I kept an eye on the door in the concrete wall. Nothing. No movement. They were probably too busy licking their wounds. Or so I hoped. Whatever, I breathed easier.
“Let’s drive around—we need to find Annie. I want to make sure she’s all right.”
“And maybe take her to a cop shop and make a report?” Jake suggested.
Annie had gone willingly with Mowry. He’d scared her, had even cut her, but not badly. Supposing what he might have done, had Jake and I not shown up, wouldn’t hold diddly weight with the state’s attorney. We didn’t have much of a case. And without Annie, we had nothing.
The other problem was arresting Mowry at this point in the murder investigation—he was a murder suspect, but we had no proof that he’d killed anyone. Taking Mowry in at this time could be a big mistake, one his lawyer could potentially use against us if we did get something on him later. I didn’t want the murderer slipping through our fingers on some technicality.
After riding around in circles for several minutes, Jake said, “Okay, it’s official. We’re not going to find Annie tonight.”
“Damn! I guess not.”
“All right, then.” Jake had barely aimed the Camaro out of that neighborhood before saying, “So, who are you really, sister to Silke? A private investigator? A cop?”
I thought about backpedaling, but the pretense of being Silke with him was over. So I took the offensive once more.
“How about you, Jake? Trading secrets?”
“A little gratitude would be in order here, considering I saved your pretty butt.”
“I fought my own fight.”
“With one man instead of more. Though you were pretty impressive, I admit. You didn’t learn to kick other people’s butts like that watching an action movie.”
He wasn’t going to let it alone this time. No more playing games. He was angry. I could hear it in his voice, see it in the tension drawing his hands into fists around the steering wheel. While he hadn’t actually saved me, he certainly had contributed t
o the good fight. Impressively, as well. And he’d seemed to be looking out for me all along. He’d warned me away from both Hung Chung and Elvin Mowry. For some reason, he seemed to be looking out for me.
I decided Jake deserved some answers. I needed someone I could trust who would watch my back. And no matter how we’d danced around each other the past few days, no matter that I still didn’t know his intentions, I decided I did trust him, especially after what had just gone down.
I finally said, “Cop, and I need to call this in.”
I pulled out my cell and called Norelli, who’d been sound asleep. To say that he was thrilled would be a gross exaggeration. I couldn’t help but savor that. I quickly filled him in on what had gone down and not only asked him to get the patrol officers keeping an eye out for Annie, but I suggested he put a stake out on Mowry’s nest. To my surprise, Norelli agreed and said he would make certain Mowry himself developed an extra shadow 24/7.
As I finished the call, I realized we were headed away from, rather than toward, Heart of Darkness. Jake must not have driven to work. Then I realized the street we were on was only vaguely familiar.
“Jake, where are you taking me?”
“Home.”
Right. Only it didn’t happen to be mine.
Chapter 10
When I protested going to his place, Jake said, “That cut on your arm needs some attention, so you have a choice—the E.R. or my place,” and I could tell he meant it.
Since I didn’t want to spend hours in some overcrowded emergency room, and I wanted to know more about Jake himself, I went along with his plan. He’d just put himself on the line for me. He could have been hurt, at the very least. In my book, his backing me up counted for a lot. At his place, he could fix me up and I could peel him open and find out what he was all about.
Jake lived in a gray-stone two-flat on the west side not far from the bar, but beyond the gentrified area. No name on the mailboxes, either. When he led me up to the second-floor apartment, I noted the hallway was clean and the faint scent of lemon oil lingered on the wood trim. The stairwell led into the middle of the apartment where there were no windows.
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