The Cactus Killer (The Inglewood Chronicles)

by Jeremy Croston

  “What are those pea-shooters going to do to me?”

  Growling, “Each bullet in this gun is laced with silver. It might not kill you but it’s going to sting like a bitch.”

  For effect Reno fired a shot at Divas. Damn the big guy was fast, dodging the bullet like it was in slow motion. “That was uncalled for Mr. Tavares, but what should one expect with your reputation.”

  “Divas, we’re here to bring you in. Why don’t you just come along nice like and you and Ambassador Swansea can work things out amongst yourselves?”

  He gave me a look of pure disgust. “I will not, as you law enforcement types are apt to say, come quietly. Elizabeth Swansea has no power over me.”

  As he said it, his two henchmen came out of the doors behind us. Shit, we were surrounded. Divas, knowing he had the upper hand, continued. “As for the two of you, I would be most interested to see what Vanish does to you.”

  Reno started laughing again. “What the hell is Vanish?”

  “A drug of my own creation. Giving the human drug cocaine a few drops of vampire blood gives it such a more potent punch. Look at how my customers are enjoying it!”

  If death was enjoyment then I’d be inclined to agree with him. “I’m pretty sure your drug is killing them.”

  “Yes, it does have that little drawback, but in the weeks it takes for them to die, they can’t stop taking it. The money that pours in from their usage is tremendous.”

  The spark of excitement that was in his eyes as he talked about killing humans made me sick. “Mark my words Divas, this will end.”

  He made a quick motion to his two goons. “Tough words coming from a dead wolf. Ugga, Nikko, take out the trash.”

  He gave us one last salute and quickly retreated through the door. We had no time to chase as both Reno and I had to jump down to the floor below to avoid the attacks of Divas’s two goons.

  “Damnit Vic, he’s getting away!”

  I have Reno a no shit look. “We got bigger problems to worry about.”

  Ugga and Nikko followed us down. It was obvious both were vampires, so Reno and I holstered our guns. I got out my silver tanto my grandfather gave me a long time ago. Reno had his steel baton, ready for action.

  “Look Ugga, the rodents wish to challenge us.” Nikko’s voice had a hint of a Russian accent, ruining my Cousin Vinnie nickname.

  Ugga said nothing, just grunted. He then looked at me and went all vampire on me, eyes red and fangs extended. Nikko and Reno soon followed. It looked like there was only one way out of this mess and that was through these two.

  Slowly, I started to walk towards the drugged up humans. Ugga followed, excitement growing on the big vampire’s face. Giving a quick glance back at Reno, I could see him and Nikko circling each other. Reno had been around the block for a long time, so I wasn’t all that worried.

  Once I got to a spot that I felt was a comfortable distance away, “So ugly, how do you want to do this?”

  In a surprisingly low and soft voice, “My master deemed it necessary for your death, so shall I deliver.”

  There was a hint of reluctance in his voice. “I don’t think you want to kill me, now do you?”

  “I have no choice. If you want to see another sunrise wolf, prepare yourself.”

  Before I could offer a rebuttal, the large vampire went on the attack.

  Chapter 2

  When you get into a fight, you always hope to be the bigger and faster man. Most of the times you’re either one or the other. In this case, I was neither. I’d been clipped twice already by the vampire’s punches. Let me tell you what, they really hurt.

  The second punch had sent me into the crowd of humans. I unfortunately landed on a corpse and from the smell, one of the first ones to pass away. I wanted to vomit, but now wasn’t the time. The punch had also knocked my tanto out of my hand and it skidded across the floor. Ugga was stalking me and I had to think of something fast.

  The only thing I noticed that I could possibly use to my advantage was that big old scar on his face. It must’ve happened before he was turned as it still had a touch of green to it, like it had once been infected. If I could get close enough, I might be able to hurt him.

  Getting up, I used what speed I could muster and ran straight at Ugga. As I got close, he kicked at me, but I jumped over his leg and landed on his chest. The massive man didn’t fall down, but I quickly through a punch to his face. My hand hit the soft skin of the scar and Ugga dropped to one knee in pain. His hands quickly went up, covering the scar.

  Being on one knee put him more at my height and I kicked him in the ribs. The dude was all muscle, but the force of the kick was enough to knock the wind outta him. He leaned forward and I finished the job by bringing my knee to his jaw. I felt a bit bad about fighting dirty, but then again I was still alive.

  I heard clapping and looked over. Reno was standing there watching me. Nikko was lying on the ground, beaten to a pulp. “Took you long enough.”

  “You didn’t feel the need to help out?”

  Walking over, “Nah, you were doing fine. Let’s take a few pictures of this place and call it a night huh?”

  Pulling out my cell phone, which somehow survived the short but nasty fight, I got the pictures to show Liz. I still had one question though. “What’re we going to do with the humans that are alive?”

  We looked over at them. Their eyes were sunk so far back in their heads and their skin was so pale. It was obvious they had been here for a few weeks.

  “Don’t judge me Vic, but I think it’s best if we put them out of their misery.”

  I wanted to protest his decision, but I couldn’t. “Why don’t you call Liz and get us some backup. We can take these two outside and decide how best to end this nightmare.”

  Reno obliged and by the time we got outside with Nikko and Ugga, Liz and Phil Ruud where waiting for us. Phil came over and relived me of the burden of carrying Ugga.

  Liz ran over and gave me a hug. Did I mention I happen to be dating my boss? “Victor, are you and Reno well?”

  The sun was starting to peak over the horizon. “Yeah, we’re good. But I think for the sake of Reno and Phil, we can wait until we get back to the office to discuss matters.”

  A millennia old European vampire, Liz was always prim and proper in both communication and appearance. Even at five in the morning, she was dressed in a business suit and five inch heels. How she ever managed to do anything was beyond me, but that was probably the difference between men and women.

  “Yes, you make an excellent point.” Pointing to the two beaten vampires, “Ruud, load them into the van and if you would, put them in the holding cells.”

  The big, bald man nodded. Reno went over and helped him load them up. With the tasks done, we were all off back to our office, located in a high-rise downtown. Liz hopped in with me and we were off.

  “I know I will see for myself when I get back to cleanse the area, but how bad was it?”

  Words didn’t really do the scene justice. “It was truly terrible. What Divas did to those poor humans proved the point to the few that know about our existence. He’s a monster.”

  “He saw an advantage with me preoccupied with the late Warren Tucker and used it. The man is not a fool that much he has shown.”

  Putting my hand on her leg, “Don’t worry beautiful, we’ll get the bastard.”

  She put her hand on top of mine. As always, it was cool to the touch. “Thank you Victor, I know we will.”

  “Any word on my passport yet?”

  “No.” The tone of her voice went from sad to full of venom. “I do not know how the United States government gets anything done. We put that request in three weeks ago.”

  The lady at the passport office said it would take four to six weeks, so I wasn’t surprised. I was amused with the irony of an impatient vampire who was effectively immortal. “Don’t worry, I’ll get it soon and we can go.”

  Not that long ago, I was the sheriff of an all
werewolf community, Full Moon, in New Mexico. Liz came to town and enlisted my help in catching a lunatic serial killer named Warren Tucker. To keep a long story short, a lot of people died and I left my post to take up a job with her, Chief Inspector of the Southwest.

  When we had returned to Phoenix, her brother Jonathan and her oldest friend, Roderick, called her with a huge problem. A very bad dude had broken out of his island prison and was on the loose in London. They wanted our help, but the problem was I don’t have a passport.

  “I know, I am just very anxious about all of this. Pan was never to leave that island.”

  The fugitive in question goes by Peter Pan. Apparently it’s not his real name, but the title fits. Liz’s brother saved a young boy by turning him into a vampire. Unfortunately, you’re stuck at the age you’re turned and being a teenager for all eternity has its drawbacks, namely one’s sanity.

  We were at a red light, so I leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Hell, no need to worry about this Pan yet. We still need to catch Divas before he ruins the city and all.”

  “He was fortunate to escape this time. Next time, we will be much better prepared for him.”

  When we pulled into the parking garage, Liz was in a much better mood. Her lust to make Divas pay for the crimes he’d committed got her mind off what was happening across the pond.

  When the two of us got to her office, I pulled my phone out and attached it to her computer. The images I took appeared on her screen.

  “Victor, this is horrifying! How did the smell not overwhelm you?”

  Smiling, “I’ve been practicing that new age meditation crap. It actually seems to be working.”

  “And you did not believe me!” Yeah, the meditation had been her idea.

  Believe it or not, over the years I had trained myself as best I could to keep my senses under control in certain situations. Liz had seen my struggles firsthand a few times and when we got to Phoenix recommended meditation. At first I passed it off as hippie crap, but even I couldn’t deny the results after a few sessions.

  “It’s not that I didn’t believe you, as you probably invented meditation, but I just thought it was weird.”

  The evil eye made its daily appearance. “Just because I’m over a thousand years old does not mean I invented everything!”

  Were age related jokes mean? Yes, yes they were. But I also knew it drove her nuts that she had fallen for someone like me, especially when most vampires are her age tended to have mates of equal age.

  Not pushing it much further, “I know and I’m really lucky to have you in my life.”

  It took a second, but the death stare went away, replaced by a smile. “As am I Victor. You certainly have brought certain energy back to all of us here.”

  “Well, let’s use this energy to find Vincente Divas and put an end his crazy schemes.”

  More from Jeremy Croston:

  Ragnarok on Ice Series:

  Blood and Arrows (Prequel)

  Power Play (Book 1)

  Hat Trick (Book 1.5)

  Penalty Kill (Book 2)

  The Inglewood Chronicles

  The Cactus Killer (Volume 1)

  The Wrath of Pan (Volume 2)

  One Last Thing…

  Thank you for taking the time to read my book. I appreciate your time and effort in doing so. I would love to hear from you and hear feedback about my work. I encourage you to write a review to help other readers, as well as me. Again, thank you for being an awesome reader!

  Warm regards,

  Jeremy Croston

  JECebooks@gmail.com

  245