by David
Bridget was as pale as a… vampire. "Is this what will happen to me?"
"Learn from what you just saw, Bridget," Lee said. "Elka is over a hundred years old, isn't she? Being smart has kept her from this fate. It's more than luck. Rogers didn't have a clue what he'd become, and his self-important attitude contributed to his death. You know what you are, and why becoming a vampire has to be such a secret."
They stood around, thinking about what had just happened and what they might have done differently. Finally Diane spoke again. "Logan is going to call me back once things have calmed down a bit. He's going to want to know why I was so certain that Rogers was in danger. He's going to ask me how a man could burn up and still not set fire to the clothes he's wearing."
"Stick to the notion that you believed Elka had infiltrated the base somehow and was going to take a shot at him while all eyes were on the President. Because Rogers had betrayed her husband, you concluded that Rogers was the primary target all along," Lee said. "Put your own spin on it, but make sure it fits the known facts, at least as mortals see them."
"And I can explain her first contact with him at the hotel, when she attacked him, as her way of letting him know she was here and coming for him later. To put the fear of God in him, so to speak. Maybe she gave him a message that he didn't mention to anyone else," Diane said, the idea taking shape in her mind. "It'll work."
"Excuse me for butting in, but how will you explain his reaction to sunlight and the way he burned up without heating anything else around him?" Bridget was a little less pale than before.
"She won't," Lee said. "There's no explanation that works." He looked at Diane. "Maybe you can suggest that it must have been an undetected chemical in his aftershave or suntan lotion that finally reacted. Or point out that Rogers was overweight, under a lot of strain, and may have just spontaneously burst into flames from some biological imbalance. It doesn't matter what theory you run past him, just as long as you don't suggest he'd become a vampire without knowing it. Let somebody else bring that up and be laughed into silence. The idea is that you have no idea."
Bridget nodded. "I'll have to remember that. Have you seen other vampires die this way?"
Lee nodded somberly. "And, believe me when I tell you, the memory stays with you for as long as you live."
CHAPTER 20
« ^
The shock of Rogers's spectacular death passed quickly for Diane, but Bridget sat motionless on the sofa, riveted to the television screen. Regular programming had been preempted with a special report and commentators and hurriedly provided "experts" were still speculating on what had happened to Rogers.
Within fifteen minutes Diane's cell phone rang. Lee, who was working on his final report concerning last night's events, looked up as she answered the call. Diane nodded to him, confirming that it was Logan. Lee half listened, but Diane had a good handle on the necessary ignorance required under such bizarre circumstances. Within three minutes the call ended.
"Federal law enforcement is bringing in a forensic team from somewhere back East to examine the remains. What do you think they'll find, Lee? " Diane asked.
"If they had let the state Office of the Medical Investigators look at the ashes and compare test data it would have become obvious that Rogers and the bodies over near Fort Wingate a few months ago all shared the same cause of death—burning due to an untraceable accelerant," Lee said.
"I remember you said that when a vampire ignites like that it's due to some kind of biological oxidation that doesn't conduct heat to anything but vampire tissue. You think they'll see the connection?" she asked.
"Eventually, if the feds listen to what the local experts tell them. You might get another call, too, or maybe me, because I'm Navajo. But I'll just play dumb like before," Lee said.
Just as Lee was getting up to pour himself more coffee, the apartment telephone rang. It was Lieutenant Richmond, so Diane, who'd answered, gave the phone to Lee.
"Lee, I want you to write up the report about Rogers and the German terrorist group before you complete the final paperwork on the Silver Eagle operation. Make sure to express your opinion on Rogers's death. You see that on TV, right?"
"Yes, sir." Lee decided not to comment about the change in timing that kept them from getting to Rogers before he stepped out into direct sunlight. Richmond would have had no input in that decision.
"Now, getting to the main reason for my call—a woman who refused to identify herself called the local state police office, asking to speak to you specifically concerning the German terrorists. She mentioned Elka Pfeiffer."
"She's not still on the line, is she?"
"No, and that alone was enough to make me consider that she's not another crackpot. She asked the switchboard operator to contact you and ask that you make arrangements needed to take her return call. She said she'd call back in an hour. Then she hung up. All we could get was the number of an Albuquerque pay phone."
"Interesting. Her call was recorded. Can you play it back to me? Maybe I can identify her." Lee motioned Bridget and Diane over to the receiver, then put the phone on speaker so they could all listen.
"I'll transfer the call back to our operator."
Several seconds went by, then a woman with a German accent came on the line, speaking briefly as Richmond had described, then hanging up.
"That's Elka," Bridget whispered, her face pale again.
Richmond got back on the line just then. "Recognize the woman, Lee?"
"Her voice sounds familiar, but I can't place it right now. When she calls back, give her this number." Lee looked over at Diane, who nodded her approval.
"You want me to set up a trace?"
"Exactly. Get Logan to okay it if it'll speed things up. The Bureau has more juice," Lee answered.
"Good thinking. Keep me posted," he said.
"At least she doesn't know where we are, apparently," Diane said.
"What do you think she wants? Me?" Bridget said, her voice shaky.
"Elka may be fishing for information. How could she possible know you've contacted us? I'd think she's more likely to assume you've just taken off for good. And now that it's light outside, her own movements outside a vehicle are restricted," Lee pointed out.
Unless, he thought, Elka already knew where Bridget was, and this was just a signal for Bridget to proceed with whatever plan they had cooked up to get rid of him. Rogers was finished; perhaps he and Diane were next. The one glitch with that theory was that it assumed Bridget would hear Elka's call and there was no way Elka could have been positive that would happen. Maybe Elka had infinite faith in Bridget's abilities as a con artist. And if Bridget was setting them up, there was no denying she was good at her job. They had lowered their guard around her somewhat—a remarkable thing, really, considering that they knew Bridget had fired her pistol after stealing it and they had no evidence to support her claim that all she'd done was a little target shooting.
"It doesn't make sense for Elka to call us unless her business isn't finished here," Diane said. "Otherwise she would have stolen a car and been miles from here by now. Do you know what other identities she uses?" Diane asked Bridget, watching her reaction slowly.
"No, and I don't know where she's stashed her travel documents or her cash. We keep those details a secret even from each other. That way if one of us gets caught we can't give away information we don't know."
"That makes perfect sense," Lee said.
Bridget said nothing for a moment, then, in a thoughtful voice, added, "Maybe Elka's still here because this time she doesn't care if she gets caught."
"You mean she's not planning on making an escape?" Lee asked.
"Well, I told you how she's acted since Jochen and the others died. This was going to be our last job, and she was going to pay me off so I could be on my own once it was over," Bridget said. "Then again, she could be playing us for fools. Think of what she did to Rogers."
"Death by cop is a choice a lot of disturbed people a
re taking these days, if that's really what she has in mind. The only problem is, Elka could be very hard to kill," Diane said.
"It's possible she's tried to contact me recently. There's my laptop. Shall I check my E-mail?" Bridget asked.
"Go ahead." Diane brought the small unit out of a desk drawer, where she'd kept it after bringing it inside earlier this morning, then hooked up the phone line to Bridget's machine.
Five minutes later, Diane at the keyboard, they discovered three very recent E-mail messages from an Internet address Bridget said belonged to Elka. They all said the same thing, in English: "I miss hearing from you, please write."
"Well, unless that's some code you're keeping from us," Lee said, looking at Bridget, who shook her head, "we'll have to wait and see what she wants when she calls me."
The phone rang twenty minutes later. "Hello, this is Officer Hawk," Lee said, pushing the speaker button so they all could hear.
"We've never met, Officer Hawk, but you've seen my work, I assume?"
It was the same woman recorded earlier, accent and everything. Bridget nodded, confirming it was Elka.
Lee knew that other law-enforcement people, including Richmond and Logan, would eventually hear this conversation as well, so he didn't want to say anything that would compromise Bridget or himself as being vampires. "You must be Elka Pfeiffer. I've seen your photograph. It's good to be able to put a voice to a face. Too bad you missed the chance to kill your old CIA handler when you had the opportunity. After seeing how you shook off that bullet wound and later kicked open the hospital doors, I wonder why you weren't able to just break his neck like you did with the Corrales police officer."
"Being thorough, Officer Hawk? And making sure you don't give out any information that might come back at you?" Elka was mocking him, but her voice seemed weary and strained.
"You sound tired, Mrs. Pfeiffer. And now you'll never be able to kill Rogers. You did come to our state looking for revenge, didn't you?"
"Revenge is for amateurs, Officer Hawk, but it was satisfying to see that CIA bastard get what he deserved. I'm so glad it's finally…" Her voice trailed off, as if she had something more to say, then changed her mind.
"Why are you calling, Elka? You know you're never going to be able to get to me. I'm the hunter now. This is my state and I know every hiding place, night or day. You're all alone, but I have many friends and allies," Lee said.
"I just wanted to hear your voice, Officer Hawk, before I go. You and that FBI woman are responsible for what happened to my brother and my friends. When they died, any chance of saving my husband's life was lost." Elka's voice was wavering a bit now, showing more emotion.
"They were killers who knew the risks and paid the price for their crimes. You, too, will be facing death or imprisonment sooner than you think if you decide to stick around," Lee replied. He looked at his watch. A trace had already had time to go through, he thought.
"My family was well suited for our work, Officer Hawk, and you as well for yours. I'm not sure about Agent Lopez though. Is it in her blood, like it is with you?" Elka was being cryptic now, fishing for information. If Diane had become a vampire, it would be easier to explain how they were able to defeat Elka's family.
"You'll find that out for yourself, Elka, if you stick around," Lee said.
"Perhaps," Elka said. "I'll be in touch—one way or the other." She hung up.
"Why did she stay on the line so long?" Diane asked immediately. "She had to know we're tracing the call."
Bridget shook her head. "She was either using a public phone or her cell. Elka would never let you track her down so easily."
Lee's cell phone rang before he could reply.
It was Lieutenant Richmond. "Lee, she called from a private home in Placitas, according to the information I have. We're getting together a team and will rendezvous at the Foothills shopping center a mile from the location. The home address is 303 Juniper Trail. Meet us at the rendezvous site."
"Agent Lopez and I are getting ready now," Lee confirmed, then disconnected the call. "They have a location."
"She's not going to be there," Diane said, shaking her head in disbelief.
"I'm not so sure. If she's suicidal or hoping to get one last shot at us, literally, she'll be waiting. Get loaded for bear, Diane. She wants a confrontation, so let's give it to her." Lee grabbed two additional ammo clips from a drawer in the kitchen.
"I hope you both get out of this alive, I really do, but I'm not going to stick around," Bridget said, her voice steady. "In spite of what Elka is, she did value me more than my biological family ever did, so I don't want to be around when she dies—or either of you, if the worst happens."
"Will you be taking off right away?" Lee asked, putting on his raid jacket, gloves, and cap, then checking his handheld radio. Diane was ready now too, it seemed.
"No. I'll wait until dark. So, depending on when you return, I may still be here. But I wanted to say good-bye now, just in case we don't see each other again." Bridget started to give Diane a quick hug, then changed her mind and made it a handshake. She then kissed Lee on the cheek. "Good luck."
"Worse-case scenario, Bridget already knows where Elka is because they planned it that way," Diane said as they hurried north on the Interstate. "Maybe she'll show up, join Elka, and try to kill us."
Lee shook his head, not taking his eyes off the traffic. "My gut feeling is that she's for real. Several times she had the opportunity to make a move against us and she hasn't. But, having said that, you noticed that I didn't give her the address and did my best to make sure she didn't overhear it on the phone."
From their northeastern location in Albuquerque it took less than twenty minutes to arrive in Placitas, an eclectic community of old settlers and crackpots, former hippie communes, and a few modern cookie-cutter housing developments extending up into the foothills of the northern end of the Sandia Mountains.
Diane took another look at the map section she'd folded out to read as Lee drove east up Highway 165. "There's the shopping center on the left. Looks like we beat the crowd."
As they passed by, Lee could see several SUVs and pickups that appeared to belong to civilians, plus one county sheriff's vehicle parked at the end of the lot farthest from the businesses.
"There's a small subdivision to our right up ahead. I can see some new houses among the pine trees. According to your map Juniper Trail is the second road coming up. It makes a half circle, then comes back to the highway farther east."
"What's the plan?" Diane asked. "Other than go up to the door and knock?"
"Why not? If she's taken over somebody's home, there could be hostages," Lee said. "And if we wait outside, the FBI and everyone else will show up. We need to immobilize her as quickly as possible, then make sure she doesn't have the chance to heal herself. With Logan looking over our shoulders, we can't exactly decapitate her. Second-best option would be several shots to the head and heart, enough to literally destroy either organ."
"We're playing it her way, though, Lee. She's a vampire, so calling during the daytime is also pressuring you to risk being caught outside. Elka doesn't know you're only a half vampire and can stay outside much longer than she can. If she's looking for a confrontation, it's meant to be inside that house—and soon."
"Okay. It's a trap, we know it's a trap, she knows we know it's a trap. The cards have been dealt. We now have to play them out," Lee replied. "I just hope she's not planning on setting off a bomb or something like that."
"There's the house up ahead, I think." Diane pointed down the street, then looked over at Lee. "I forgot about bombs, until now. Thanks for bringing it up."
"Hey, what are friends for?"
Right up against the side of the mountain was a large three-story wood-frame and stucco home with a steep metal pitched roof and several fireplaces. Balconies extended out from two upper-story rooms, one, probably a bedroom, which looked out across the valley to the west. There were no vehicles in the driveway or
at the curb.
"How'd she get here?" Diane wondered aloud. "Walk?"
"Maybe she came over from another street, or is already long gone. We still have to check out the house." Lee looked up and down the block and around the curve where the street looped back toward the highway. An expensive-looking SUV was in the driveway on the opposite side of the street two houses down.
"How's this for tactics?" Lee suggested. "If she's still inside, Elka will be expecting normal law enforcement to surround the residence and assault all the entrances simultaneously—unless contact is made and a hostage is spotted. Let's just rush the door we least expect her to have covered. I'll go first, you cover my back."
"We're wearing our vests, but don't give her a clear head shot or we're screwed," Diane replied, her expression grim.
"I'll go in first and you cover me while we sweep the house. I'm probably as fast as she is, if not faster." Lee pulled up in the middle of the driveway, almost touching the double garage door with the bumper. If her car was inside, she'd have to move his first in order to flee by vehicle.
"She entered through the front, probably kicked it in," Diane pointed out as they both exited the car, her on the side facing the main entrance. Lee, coming around the rear of their vehicle, could see the heavy carved wooden door slightly ajar. The doorjamb was shattered. There was an alarm system, even one of those little signs stuck into the ground announcing the security. If the alarm had gone off, they certainly hadn't been notified by radio.
"Follow me," he whispered, running around the side of the house. The house was xeriscaped with different shades and textures of gravel, Southwest shrubs, and flowers, but there was also a flagstone walk that led around back. Lee stayed on the flagstones to avoid the crunchy noise. A narrow, covered walkway between two wings of the house led through a glass door into what looked like a library or home office. Nobody was visible inside.
Lee tried the knob, but it was locked. He stepped back and kicked the door right in the center of the clear panel. It was Plexiglas, and broke loose around the edges of the doorframe, falling back onto the carpet in one piece.
