"Lissa, do not allow him to hold this power over you," he said quietly, so I slowly straightened up and went to sit in one of Wlodek's chairs. I was shivering again, I couldn't help it. Merrill took the other chair. "You wished to see us?" Merrill raised an eyebrow at Wlodek.
"Yes. We are in need of Lissa's talents, Gavin and I," he said. "And this was my idea, no one else's," he held up a hand.
I wanted to tell him that I wasn't about to cooperate with Gavin, but Wlodek had me over a barrel and he knew it. One step out of line and Gavin's claws wouldn't be held back from my neck a second time.
"Why do you need her?" Merrill asked, voicing my own question.
"We require a mister and the others are engaged elsewhere," Wlodek replied. "We have a confirmed rogue killing tourists in Florida. A mister would be a tremendous help." They were going to make me go. They were going to make me go with Gavin.
"Lissa, please do not make me place compulsion to stop this fretting, I don't like doing it," Merrill told me on the drive home. I drew in a shaky breath.
"I'll be fine," I whispered. "I just have to deal with this." Gavin and I were scheduled to leave the following evening. The private jet would be flying us to Tampa where a safe house was available for us to use. Wlodek said that Charles had already arranged to have blood delivered and stocked in the fridge for us. The weather would be much warmer in Florida, too—it was July and I was thankful for the shopping trip with Charles. I'd gotten quite a few sleeveless and short-sleeved things, all of which would be useful for a trip to the eastern edge of the gulf coast.
I used up some of my fretting energy to pack two bags, using the expensive ones that Charles had given me. "Do you need anything from the city?" Franklin knocked on my door and walked inside when I answered and invited him in.
"Franklin, you don't have to run after me," I told him.
"I have to go anyway," he shrugged.
"I need shampoo," I sighed, grateful I didn't have to worry about it. There were a couple of other things—my favorite soap and toothpaste—so Franklin wrote it down and told me he'd have it for me when I woke the next evening.
"Don't let that one upset you," Franklin said before leaving my bedroom. "Gavin was treating you as a criminal before because that's how Wlodek and the Council saw you. He was just doing his job. I don't know how he thought you were going to turn on a dime, though, and let all that go." Franklin shook his head in confusion over the whole thing.
"He didn't have to be such an asshole about it either," I said, tossing shoes into one of the bags. "I couldn't even blink without his permission after he laid compulsion, and he chained me up anyway inside the jet. I wasn't able to look out the window or anything." I think I was close to tears.
"Lissa, vampires are a different breed. Some of them are as cold as the Arctic while others can be as warm as a summer day. They're like people, only they tend to go to the farthest of extremes. I know your turning wasn't supposed to be and that is a sad thing. But if they hadn't done it, here I would be, never having tasted the best mashed potatoes I've ever eaten." Franklin smiled.
"I told the Grand Master of the werewolves that he had to tell his grandchildren that he was rescued from a tree by a cookie baking vampire," I gave a shaky smile in return.
"And what did he say?"
"He said he would."
Franklin had placed my shampoo and other items in a plastic bag and set them outside my bedroom door when I got up the following evening, so I packed those things last, zipping up my cases. I had to force myself not to get the shivers again. Putting Gavin out of my mind forcefully worked temporarily, Merrill helped get my bags into the trunk of the Cadillac and we drove to the airport where the Council's private jet waited. This rogue wouldn't be coming back with us; Gavin intended to kill him but I was going along to help track him if I could. The rogue would be able to scent Gavin, but when I was mist, I didn't have a scent. I have no idea at all how that works, but it's true for all misters.
"If you need me, use this," Merrill placed a new cell phone box in my hand. "It's already charged up and programmed with my numbers plus Franklin's if it's an emergency and you can't reach me. He can get to Wlodek if he has to. And here's this," he handed a credit card to me that had my new name on it. I gulped.
"It's a freaking black American Express," I whispered, staring at my surrogate sire.
"Yes it is. Use it."
I'd put my envelope of cash in one of my bags. I still had more than forty thousand, mostly in large bills. I hadn't spent the reward money Winkler had given me and precious little of my paychecks. I stuffed the credit card into the small purse I carried and Merrill hugged me. "Be safe," he told me as I went toward the plane.
Gavin was already there, buckled into his seat. I didn't say anything to him and barely spared a glance in his direction. He'd taken a seat near the middle of the plane and since I had no desire to sit anywhere near him, I sat down and strapped myself in two rows in front of his. Maybe he would have preferred that I sit next to him, but he wasn't getting that. Nope. Not from me.
There was a car waiting at the airport when we arrived in Tampa—one of the local vampires had gotten it for us. Gavin barely thanked the local before getting in on the driver's side of the black Lincoln Town Car. I thought about getting in the back but didn't want to fight with Gavin over it, so I climbed in on the passenger side instead. I remembered when he'd first started working for Winkler and I'd thought he was a normal person that smelled really, really wonderful. Those were the good old days, all right.
"How are your lessons?" he asked as he drove. The GPS in the car was telling us where to turn as Gavin navigated through Tampa.
"Fine," I said, refusing to look at him.
"Is Merrill a good instructor?"
"Merrill is very good. I couldn't ask for better." I considered the conversations I'd had with Tony and how much fun those had been. Now Gavin was speaking to me and all I could do was shiver.
"What have you covered so far?"
"Rules one through three and a few other things. He tells me my fangs are so small that if I didn't drink so little blood I might have a feeding problem. And he had to force my claws to come out since they'd never done that before."
"You didn't know you had claws?"
"Not until I saw yours," I said sullenly.
"Christ," he muttered. "How did you kill those werewolves?"
"By breaking their necks or throwing them so far they broke most of the bones in their body and couldn't move or kicking their heads in or whatever else I could do. I wasn't thinking about it at the time, there wasn't any opportunity to analyze my fighting methods." I pulled my knees up so my feet rested on the edge of the seat and wrapped my arms around myself.
"I know why you do that. You're uncomfortable," he said, glancing my way briefly. I didn't answer.
The safe house was nice. It was a block east of the beach and about five miles south of Tampa, with a basement beneath the house. Yeah, it was unusual for a home to have a basement in Florida, but vampires have their own rules. We went through a heavy door in the floor of the master bedroom closet and found two bedrooms and a tiny kitchen below. Gavin punched in a code on a hidden keypad to get us into the basement in the beginning, closing off the door afterward and locking us inside. That wasn't frightening or anything. I was locked inside a basement with Gavin. He checked the fridge first thing, checking our blood supply. There was only one bathroom in the small space so we'd have to share. Also not comfortable. Gavin flipped on the television and found a local station that did re-runs of the evening news. I stood and watched as journalists were reporting the disappearance of yet another tourist. The man had gone nightclubbing and never returned to his hotel room.
"Fuck," I mumbled.
"This is the fifth one," Gavin said, hitting the mute button.
"What is he doing with them—their bodies?" I asked.
"He could be doing anything with them," Gavin said. "Tossing them in the ocea
n, dismembering them and feeding them to alligators, burying them somewhere, it doesn't matter."
"I might be able to find the bodies if I could smell clothing that they wore or something," I said.
"Lissa, I know you have a good nose—better than mine and perhaps better than most other vampires. But we need to concentrate on getting this thing out of the way. Those bodies could have bite marks and that would be disastrous if they're found."
"I was just thinking that the body might have the vampire's scent all over it and make it easier for me to find him in the first place," I grumbled.
"If problems arise, that might be an option. Let's try to get this done quickly."
"All right." I'd borrowed books from Merrill's library; he had all sorts of things. Franklin read too and kept his books on Merrill's shelves. I'd found a couple of mysteries to bring with me, so I left Gavin in the tiny living area and went into my bedroom to read. As usual, Gavin had gotten the bedroom nearest the exit. I didn't even care how big it was.
Chapter 17
Gavin was already dressed and ready to go when I slipped into the shower. Knowing he was likely fretting and pacing while waiting on me to get ready, I hurried as fast as I could. I shouldn't have to feel that way. Shouldn't. But I still had daymares about the compulsion he'd forced on me and the absolute power he'd had as a result. I'd been more comfortable fighting werewolves. At least I'd had some control over my life, then.
"I'm ready." I slung my excuse for a purse over a shoulder. My new credit card, my cell phone and a little cash had gone into it, along with my New York driver's license. I didn't know why they'd picked New York as the state for my U.S. residence, but I did remember that Wlodek had said Merrill owned property there. I wore a sundress with a halter-top to go out sleuthing with Gavin. Charles had loved it the moment he'd seen it, although I didn't think I'd ever have an opportunity to wear the thing. It was a compromise. It only cost three hundred pounds as opposed to the thousand-pound price tag attached to the other dress.
Gavin didn't say anything, raking my body quickly with deep brown eyes before leading me up the stairs to the ground floor of the house. If I'd had time, I wouldn't have minded sitting in the media room and either reading or watching television. We were three blocks away from the gulf and didn't have an ocean view but I could smell the water the minute we walked outside.
"It smells salty and fishy," I said as we climbed into the rental.
"The car?"
"No." I wanted to call him doofus but that would be inviting trouble. I didn't know what he'd been thinking, sending the note and bracelet. How could he even think we'd have a relationship? Relationships allowed teasing. Invited closeness. Formed a bond of trust. There couldn't be any of those things between us.
"Where are we going?" I asked after a while. He hadn't bothered to give me much information. Not that I was surprised or anything.
"The last known places where the humans were seen before disappearing," he said. "Bars and nightclubs."
"Are any of them the same?"
"No."
"He's moving around, then. He might not go back to any of them."
"I know that, Lissa," Gavin heaved a patient sigh. "I want to question the staff. See if they know anything or are hiding something." Gavin did this sort of thing all the time. I was the newbie, so anything I said would likely irritate Gavin. I wondered, for perhaps the hundredth time, why Wlodek had seen fit to send me out like this. At least Gavin hadn't told me to shut up. Not yet, anyway.
"Compulsion." I couldn't help saying it.
"Yes."
That had come to mean something worse to me than any curse word ever could. Curse words for me were a way of letting off steam. I'd known people where I worked, though, who would cringe at a carelessly dropped damn. I'd tried not to curse around those people. Not just because it offended most of them, it was a pain to them too. And I didn't like to cause pain—not back then. I drew my knees up to my chin in the car seat and didn't ask any more questions.
The bartender in the first bar had long blond hair that hung halfway down his back and it was tied at the nape of his neck with a leather thong. Gavin had only placed a slight compulsion since the bartender seemed more than willing to answer questions. It was a Monday night, too, so the crowd was light.
"The police asked me already," the bartender answered one of Gavin's questions.
"That isn't what I asked you," Gavin said, strengthening the compulsion. "You will answer all my questions in detail, no matter how many times you've answered them already."
The bartender's eyes went blank for a second and he nodded. "The guy was sitting down there," the bartender pointed to the other end of the bar. We were currently standing at the opposite end, just to the left of the door. "He ordered martinis. Six of them. He talked to several people including three women, but he didn’t get very far with them. They decided he was too drunk and took off with somebody else."
"You didn't see him leave with anyone, male or female?" Gavin asked.
"No. One minute he was there, the next he was gone. There was a hundred on the bar when I got back."
"What did you do with the money?" I asked. Gavin turned to me and frowned.
"The cops asked that, too," the bartender replied. "We deposited it the next day. The guy wasn't reported missing until the day after that. Too late to do anything about it."
"So you put the money in the till and then take tips out later?" I asked.
The bartender looked like he was sweating, suddenly. He hadn't been honest with me, but then Gavin hadn't commanded him to answer my questions truthfully.
"What did you do with the hundred?" Gavin was now getting forceful.
"I slipped it in my pocket," the bartender whined.
"And then what did you do with it?" I asked.
"Bambalacha."
"Great," I mumbled. No luck getting the vampire's scent that way.
"What?" Gavin didn't know what he'd said.
"He bought marijuana with it," I said.
"How do you know this?" Gavin pointed a deep frown in my direction.
"I used to work for a judge, doofus."
"You will forget you saw either of us," Gavin gave the command to the bartender before gripping my upper arm and ushering me out the door.
"Go ahead, tell me not to call you doofus again," I muttered petulantly as he shoved me into the passenger seat and shut the door.
Gavin didn't say a word; he just slid in on the driver's side, started the car up and drove to the next bar. We met with pretty much the same results at all five bars that night. No, the other bartenders didn't take the cash and run, or buy marijuana (Not that came up in conversation, anyway). Three employees did remember the victims clearly, (two males and three females were missing) and they said that all but one left cash on the bar—mostly hundred dollar bills—to cover the drinks plus a hefty tip. All the cash had gone to the bank or otherwise gotten lost in the shuffle afterward.
"I'm sure the police have already checked with the area banks to see if anybody has done currency exchanges in large amounts," I said as we were driving through Tampa. Gavin looked at me sharply.
"He could be local but I'm thinking not," I said. I wasn't sure how to explain why I felt that way, I just did.
"You think he traveled here just to do this and then planned to go home?" Gavin asked, intrigued.
"Well, yeah."
"Fascinating."
With no idea whether Gavin thought I was an idiot or not, I turned my head and watched the city of Tampa off to the east as we drove across the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Neither Gavin nor I would ever see that bridge in the sunshine it was named after. Not in person, anyway.
"Here," Gavin thumped a Tampa area Yellow Pages down in front of me after we made it back to our basement. I was sitting at the tiny kitchen table, my purse flopped onto the surface at my elbow. Looking up at his unreadable expression for a moment, I sighed and opened the book to look for bars. There were a lo
t of them. I was looking through the many listings when an idea hit me.
"Gavin, do we have any paper and a pencil?"
Gavin was watching news re-runs, checking for further disappearances. Without a word, he stood and went into his bedroom, coming back with a legal pad and a very nice pen. "Now," I said, "I know what bars we went to, but what order were they visited? What's the order of disappearances and the corresponding names of the bars?"
Gavin looked like he wanted to growl at me but went back again and brought out a thick file folder, setting it down next to me. The first page inside the folder had four names of victims listed, along with the name of the bar where they'd last been seen. The information had been printed before the fifth victim disappeared. Adding his name to the list, I wrote the information down on my legal pad in two columns, one for the person, the other for the bar in question. Three out of four fit my theory. It was the third one that didn't.
"The Bearded Manatee, that's where the waitress said she saw the girl but the girl paid with a credit card, right?" I looked over at Gavin, who'd gone back to watching the news.
"Yes." He didn't even turn in my direction when he answered.
"She wasn't abducted from that bar," I said. That got his attention. He was staring at me now.
"And just how do you know this?" A deep frown was aimed in my direction.
"It's likely the police haven't missed this either," I said. "The fifth guy disappeared from Eddie's Bar," I said. "Look at this." I took my list over to Gavin and showed him my columns. "First one disappeared from Antonio's. Second from the Beachcomber. The third one—that bar is listed as the Bearded Manatee, but I don't think that's the one the girl was grabbed from. That bar started with a C."
Gavin grabbed the legal pad away from me. The fourth bar had been Dio's Bar and Grille. "He's going through the phone book, Gavin," I said. "He's making this a
game, just like those two idiots who turned me."
Gavin stood faster than I could see him stand and had his cell phone in his hand in almost as much time. He hit a number on speed dial and I heard it ringing. Wlodek's voice came through, loud and clear.
Blood Wager (Blood Destiny #1) Page 25
