Texas Hold 'Em

by PATRICK KAMPMAN

  Lacey dismissed the vampire with a look. “Sorry, I don’t like physical violence. I imagine it would be painful. Besides, like the nutter over there said, they weren’t going to kill you. Speaking of killing, here’s your gun.” Lacey handed me the Browning and its magazine.

  “I’m glad you were sure enough of that to let them beat on me,” I said, sliding the magazine into the weapon and tucking it back into my shorts.

  “I thought you were done having women come to your rescue. Isn’t that why you came all the way out here to Texas by yourself?” Lacey smiled, taking a few steps back.

  “I’ve changed my mind.”

  “Smart. Even smarter would be taking a shower. You smell like a brewery. I’m no tactician, but I can’t figure out what advantage you thought dumping that beer on your head was going to give you. It’s not like the wolves were trying to track your scent; they were right in front of you. I’m pretty sure they could see you.”

  I was about to let Lacey know where she could shove a beer bottle when Katy interrupted.

  “Hey, Chance, I thought you were some sort of martial arts expert. At least I took out all three of mine before the rest of them jumped me! You couldn’t even handle two.” Katy gave me a condescending pat on my shoulder. At least she had the decency to find one of the last areas on my body that wasn’t in some way damaged.

  I had to admit, I was a little embarrassed about getting my ass kicked. So I took it out on the closest annoying blonde in the alley.

  “Look, Katy—I’m glad at least one of us had fun, but not all of us here have supernatural powers. Some of us actually need time to heal from our beatings. I apologize if I’m not happy about having to participate in your self-centered little thrill ride back there.”

  “Geez, sorry.”

  “Now can you please tell me where my mom is?”

  She shrugged, somewhat subdued by my outburst. “Last time I saw her she was with Martin, getting gas for the Explorer. I have no idea where she is now.”

  I could hardly believe it. “What? Are you serious? So after putting me through all of that—” I jerked my thumb toward the pool hall “—now you’re going to tell me that you don’t know where she is?”

  “Like I told you when you called, Christian asked Martin and me to watch your mom, the kid, and that vamp you guys worked over, while Christian and the rest of the gang went to go meet your girlfriend. Not that much of the gang is left. You’ve kind of thinned us out, Chance.”

  “Forgive me for not caring.”

  “I can’t blame you. And, really, most of ‘em were ass-hats.”

  “Glad I got your approval. I’ll sleep better now.”

  “Ha. Anyway, sorry about the fight. I was pissed at having been put on babysitting duty. Can you believe Christian wouldn’t let me come? He said I would be trouble.”

  When I didn’t answer, Katy made a huffing sound. “I guess I needed to release some tension, you know?” A sly look crept across her features. “Of course, I still have a whole bunch left I need to work off. I bet you and I could think of a better way to do it.”

  “Katy, I already told you—I’m with Toni.” This garnered a reaction from Lacey, but at least she kept it non-verbal.

  Katy pouted. “I totally wanted to go see this Toni of yours. I want to know what makes her so special. I would give anything to watch her tell Christian off some more. That would have been epic, at least until he ate her.”

  “I’m sure it would have been an amazing sight. Now, can you please tell me where my mom is?”

  “Like I said, Christian asked Martin and me to baby-sit the three of them. Martin’s still having issues walking after what you guys did to his legs. High-five for that, by the way.” Katy held up her palm and I reluctantly slapped it. She continued, “I bailed on Martin when we stopped to get gas. I figured if I didn’t get to see the girlfriend smack-down, I could at least go check out some werewolves.

  “Screw Christian. He thinks he can make me sit around with that douchebag Martin. Besides, I didn’t see the point of having two of us babysitting them. Your mom is enthralled—she’s not going anywhere, the kid seems happy to sit around and ask lots of annoying questions, and that tramp-vamp you guys abused is still so banged up she just lays there. Man, you guys messed her up.”

  “We did?” asked Lacey. “I mean, yeah, we totally did.”

  They must have assumed Megan wasn’t with me. Then it dawned on me: of course they did. She’s a vampire, I’m a vampire hunter. I finally followed the same line of reasoning to Marie. It was at that point I realized Christian would never have used a vampire as a plant. He assumed I hated all vampires.

  “Katy, you swore to me you would tell me where my mom was if I met you,” I said.

  “I did tell you where she was. It’s not my fault she moved.” She smiled at her joke, but she stopped as soon as she saw that I didn’t find it funny. “All right, calm down already. How about I tell you where she will be instead?”

  “You know where they’re going?”

  “Well, that vamp you guys beat up was in bad shape, but she wasn’t one of Christian’s, so you wasted your energy. You should have whacked her. Anyway, Christian figured she must be one of the locals. Christian told us to wait until she had recovered enough, and Martin could walk again, then bring them to Marie’s place. Marie is the head vamp around here. Or at least she was. Christian is now, of course.”

  “He is?”

  “He’s way older and more powerful than that bimbo. He’s waiting on the official word that Texas is his. There’s some sort of vampire protocol, if you can believe it.”

  “So the Council is going to reinstate him as the master vampire?”

  “Yup. Marie could always fight him for it or something. I think they’re allowed to do some type of challenge. But Christian would tear her apart and she knows it. Anyway, my point is, Christian asked Martin and me to bring that vampire to Marie’s place once everyone was feeling better.”

  “Christian is having you guys bring Meg—er, the vamp we messed up—back to Marie? Why would he do that?”

  “I said take her to Marie’s place, not to Marie herself. I think Christian was trying to make some point about how he can protect the vampires better than Marie can. So we march this wounded vampire in as a token of good faith. ‘Look at me, I’m mighty Christian and I saved this poor stuck-up slut from the evil vampire hunters!’”

  “She’s not a slut!” I said, before I could stop myself. Lacey shot me a ‘shut up, you fool’ look, and I reined in any additional defense of Megan I had been readying.

  “Who? That vampire bitch?” demanded Katy. “I don’t know, Chance, who the hell goes around wearing five-inch heels and two-thousand-dollar dresses short enough to show ass? And why the hell do you care? You’re the one that beat the shit out of her.”

  “Well, I don’t care,” I said feebly, then hurriedly followed up with, “Anyway, what Christian is doing makes sense. It’s a good PR stunt.” Or at least it would have been if Megan was one of Marie’s vampires, and if we were the ones that had beaten her up and not Christian’s minions.

  “Exactly. So as soon as that vamp and Martin are well enough to walk into Marie’s dump on their own, Martin will bring all of them. I mean, it’s not like Martin can let your mom or the kid out of his sight, so they pretty much have to go with him.”

  I noticed that Katy seemed to have had no problem with leaving them all out of her sight, but I decided to leave that observation unsaid.

  “My advice is to camp out at the local vampire HQ and wait for them. They have some rat-hole club around the corner from here called Styx. If you’re lucky, you can waste Martin, snatch up your mom and the kid, and be on your way before Christian kills your girlfriend and gets back there. Oh, and hey,” she said, fishing a couple of things out of her front pocket and throwing them to me. First came Jacob’s keys. The second thing she lobbed was my cell phone.

  “Your car is parked out of sight in ba
ck of the club. Christ, but you have bad taste in cars. You planning on becoming a pimp? Don’t tell me that vamp was one of your girls and you beat her up for having some side action.”

  “The Caddy’s not mine; I borrowed it.”

  “Don’t blame you. If I owned that Miata, I would too. Anyway, your friend’s car is in back of the club, or at least it was when I parked it. It must be hot, ‘cause the cops are looking for it, so it might have been towed by now. Hope not, though, ‘cause I put your guns and knife in the trunk.

  “I like the Tommy gun, by the way—very gangsta. My advice is to clean your stuff out of that car quick, then wait for Martin to bring your mom and the kid around to the club and grab them. Do me a favor and make sure to off Martin while you’re at it. I’d have done it myself, but I’m not allowed.”

  “So when is Christian meeting Toni?”

  Katy fished a phone out of her back pocket and checked the display. “Right about now.”

  “Now? Where?”

  “Why? You actually want to try to save your girlfriend first? That’s stupid, Chance. Christian will kill you, then you won’t save anyone. Might as well go for the sure thing.”

  “I can’t let her die, Katy.”

  “Sure you could,” suggested Lacey.

  “I agree with her,” Katy said, walking up to me. “Why not let her die? Go and save your mom and that kid. If it’s a girl you want, you have something better right here.”

  I flashed back to the stage at the old theater. I wasn’t starting that again! I backpedaled fast, almost tripping over a discarded box.

  “Thanks for the offer, Katy, but Toni and I are in love. Maybe in a different life, you and I could have worked out.” The profession garnered raised eyebrows from Lacey.

  Katy was almost on me. “That’s only because you haven’t had me yet. Once you have, I guarantee the choice will become obvious.”

  “Um, I’m sure it will—or, I mean, would have, if I wasn’t already in love. Sorry, Katy, I can’t,” I said, ducking under her and scooting off to another part of the alley.

  “Fine.” Slightly dejected, she stopped her advance.

  “Where is he meeting Toni?” I asked her.

  “At the Parkland Colonnades. You know that big condo high-rise they started to build, then never finished?”

  “Yeah, I know it. Why would she agree to meet him at an abandoned condo complex?” I answered my own question. “Oh, right, because she wouldn’t know it was abandoned.”

  Katy nodded. “Not that it would matter. Let’s face it, Chance—your girlfriend is as good as dead. Even meeting Christian in the middle of an amusement park on Saturday afternoon wouldn’t save her.”

  That might be true if Toni were human, but she wasn’t. Even so, Katy was right: Toni couldn’t take Christian, and certainly not Christian and his cronies. Even if we made it in time to help, the outcome would be doubtful.

  “Do you have Christian’s number?” I asked her.

  Katy pulled out a pen and wrote it down on my palm. Then she wrote hers under it, surrounding it with a little heart.

  “Well, thanks, Katy. I’ll see you around.”

  “Anytime! Oh, and Chance, if things don’t work out between you and Toni, or when she dies in about five minutes, give me a call. And you should know that I’m not above rebound sex.” She gave me a wink.

  I thought about killing her then and there. With Lacey’s help, I knew I could do it. After everything she had done, she certainly deserved it. But she was Kristi’s sister. I had known her for years. I did my best to grin back at her before turning and leaving her in the alley.

  I dialed Christian’s number, hoping I could avert his meeting with Toni and point him in my direction instead.

  He answered on the fourth ring, right as I thought it would click through to voicemail.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, asshole!”

  “Chance! How eloquent. Has anyone told you that you have a lot in common with a cockroach? Impossible to kill.”

  “I heard the same thing about you, but your similarity was that you’re creepy and no one wants you around.”

  “Which of my fans had you been talking to?” asked Christian.

  I wasn’t throwing anyone under the bus, so I went generic. “You don’t have fans, Christian.”

  “Well, you know the old saying: better to be respected than liked. And while I’d love to chat with you some more, I have a date with your girlfriend.”

  “Why go out with her when you can come have me instead?” That didn’t come out quite as I’d meant it to.

  “How valiant—trying to protect her. But I’m afraid you’re too late for that. You haven’t been able to protect anyone, have you? Not Robert’s niece back at the college. Not Robert himself. Not your mother. And not this Toni. Though, really, Chance, you should thank me for this last one; she is crass.”

  “Talking like you’ve already won is a bit premature, buddy,” I said.

  “Face it: you’ve lost, Chance. I hold all of the cards.”

  If Christian wanted to pull out card euphemisms, I could play. “I wouldn’t say that. See, I heard you were originally from up north somewhere. And this here game we’re playing is Texas Hold ’em. Now, you might see those cards out on the table and then look at the ones you’re holding and think you have a good hand. But the thing is, I have a hand too. And those cards out on the table, well, everyone in the game gets to use them. And who’s to say I don’t have an ace or two up my sleeve?”

  He laughed. “Well, you can show me those aces after I’ve finished with your girlfriend. I do believe I see her walking up right now. Oh, look, she brought some friends. It’s going to be a party! Goodbye, Chance.”

  I cursed as the phone went dead and picked up my pace. The construction site wasn’t far, but we were going to have to hurry to make it before it was too late. At least Toni hadn’t come alone. I wondered how many of her friends she’d convinced to come with her. I hoped I wouldn’t be responsible for their deaths as well.

  Lacey and I rounded the building to find Bryan leaving the head shop carrying a bag.

  “What the hell happened to you?” he asked, tilting his neck back to get a better perspective of the damage.

  “Fight at the pool hall.”

  “Damn, dude, way to lose another one. Did you at least find out where Mom is?”

  “Where she’s gonna be, yeah.”

  “Then let’s get going. Oh, hey, check it out. I got this for Marie. Think she’ll like it?” Bryan pulled a Zippo lighter out of the bag and held it up for us to see. It was brushed black metal with a picture of a cat on it.

  “Don’t you think she’s stoned enough of the time without you enabling her?” asked Lacey.

  “I’m sure she’ll love it,” I said, surprised. My brother didn’t usually get interested in anyone enough to buy them anything. Normally he was the one that got the gifts. He was one of the only guys I knew that had women buying him presents. Not just that, but Bryan had actually put some thought into the purchase. Aside from the fact that it was a lighter, and I seriously doubted Marie smoked, remembering that she liked cats took some effort. Lacey noticed it too, and wasn’t nearly as thrilled by the revelation.

  “So where’s Mom?” Bryan asked.

  “She’s going to be at Styx soon, but first we have to deal with Christian. He’s supposed to be meeting Toni any minute now, and we have to help her out.”

  Bryan looked confused. “Your girl Toni? The one from Cali? What’s she doing here? Or is Christian out in California?”

  “No, he’s here. I’ll explain on the way.”

  Chapter 25

  The construction site was only a few miles from the clubs clustered downtown, but those few miles made all the difference in terms of traffic, both foot and vehicular.

  Although a smattering of condominium towers had been built in the last decade, the area was still mostly commercial. There was no reason for anyone to be around here at
almost midnight, so the streets were largely deserted.

  The building in question had gone up right before the housing market’s downward turn. At that time, erecting a high-rise condo was all the rage, and there was no shortage of optimism about finding an endless stream of buyers willing to shell out half a million dollars for a one-bedroom in downtown Austin. The investors had jumped ship when it became obvious that the business model would not work. Construction stopped prematurely, with only eighteen out of the planned forty stories even close to completed. Most of the building was only a skeleton of iron beams and girders. The building had stood this way for over a year, a silent reminder of the state of the economy.

  A plywood wall plastered with graffiti and fliers for bands and missing pets surrounded the site. It had been secured by a chain-link gate wide enough to allow large trucks through, but that had been smashed down a week before. A carjacker had led the police on a high-speed chase, and found himself upside down in a 20-foot-deep pit the size of a football field. He’d been lucky it wasn’t filled with water; that pit was intended to be a tree-shaded pond, the bucolic centerpiece of Parkland Colonnade’s “park-like atmosphere.”

  Lacey stopped the van across the street from the entrance, next to a long row of motorcycles. Not only had Toni not come alone, she had brought half of the pack with her. I guess being the alpha female gave her some pull, because I counted at least a dozen bikes, and it is not a short drive from San Jose to Austin.

  We exited the van to a chorus of distant growls off in the distance. A lone howl tore through the sultry night. At that sound, we started toward the entrance.

  As we passed the line of street bikes, I could hear the pings of the cooling engines and make out the faint smell of superheated oil. The bikes hadn’t been here long. Judging by the shouts and snarls coming from the construction site, however, it had been long enough for them to make Christian’s acquaintance.

  I allowed myself a brief smile as I imagined the look on Christian’s face when he finally got to meet my “girlfriend” firsthand. The revelation must have been alarming, even more so when he realized just how alone she hadn’t come.