by Chism, Holly
I shrugged. “I didn’t know what it was supposed to feel like,” I said. “And you didn’t tell me what it was supposed to feel like.”
“I am sorry I didn’t realize your bond hadn’t broken,” he said. “I’d have called Risto sooner, if I had.”
I shrugged. “It got us some really good information, and the bond is good and broken, now.”
I heard Andi’s Mustang creeping up the driveway, and made a mental note to call the neighbor’s kid to come over and plow the drive free of snow again. Assuming he wasn’t off to college. It was hard, sometimes, to keep track of how kids grew up when I was so unchanging.
I sighed, and felt my shoulders slump. I wondered how long I could stay in my comfy little farm house when I didn’t age. It was one of the reasons I was polite with the neighbors, but not friendly. Hoping they didn’t notice me not changing.
“Are you alright?” Richmond asked as I listened for Andi and likely Ray to come in through the front door.
“I will be,” I said absently. “I just realized I’m likely to have to uproot and move every so often to avoid being outed.”
Risto shrugged. “You could. Or you could make sure that nobody connected the dots, so to speak. Be your own descendent every so often, or something. I’ve done that when I felt the need to be rooted for a while. But after a while, you’ll feel the need to drift, to reconnect with the world.”
“I do investments,” I said drily. “I haven’t lost my connection yet.”
Richmond snapped his fingers. “That reminds me. I’d like for you to set up a portfolio for me. It doesn’t need to be aggressive, but I’d like to eventually have a solid nest egg.”
“I’ll be happy to help you pick out a portfolio after this is over and done with and manage it for you, if you want,” I said, “but right now, we’ve got other things to think about.”
Andi and Ray staggered in, covered in snow (Ray’s layer was thicker than Andi’s). “I win,” Andi laughed.
“Actually, I think we both lose, because that hot water heater won’t hold up for two long showers,” Ray said.
I stepped all the way out into the hall, arms folded. “Ray, you can strip right where you’re standing, and go take a shower in bathroom downstairs. I have a separate, tankless hot water heater, down there,” I said. “Andi…go upstairs. We’ve got work to do, so don’t take too long.”
“I won’t,” Andi promised. “Besides. I’m going to need to bring down dry clothes for Ray when he’s done.”
“Bring me my pajamas, woman,” he ordered, eyes sparkling and a smile teasing at the corner of his mouth. “Only thing I got warm enough after you tried to freeze me to death.”
I turned into my office, and to my computer. I figured I’d check my email and set up a mailing list for the newsletter I’d put together while the professional investigators were warming up from their non-professional behavior. On a whim, I pulled that up and hit print. I’d hand it off to Risto and Richmond after I went back in the other room. Or they came into my office, one or the other.
I went ahead and put together a mailing list of those who’d wanted the newsletter, figured out how best to put that into the email, and sent it off.
And heard Andi coming out of the spare bedroom she’d put Ray in about the time I’d finished. I started a pot of coffee, then poked my head into the living room. “Would either of you like a cup of coffee when the other two get back up here?” I asked.
Richmond grimaced. “Thank you, but no. I’d love a cup of proper tea, but I will settle for a teabag.”
Risto shrugged. “I’d be glad for a cup, yes.”
I wandered into the kitchen and gathered up four mugs, setting a fifth one full of water in the microwave and digging out a tea bag. I held them up with a raised eyebrow as Andi came back up from my basement. She looked up, saw the cups, and grinned. “Bless you. I’m still cold to my core, even if my hide’s nice and warm from the shower. Ray’s probably in the same boat.”
“If he does cream and sugar, go get it,” I said, arranging the cups at my library table. I heard the microwave beep, and went into the kitchen to drop a teabag in the hot water, took the mug of brewing tea into the library, then went to the living room.
I helped Richmond hobble into my library. His femur was knit and healed, but he was still stiff and sore. “Want me to run down for another blood bag?” I murmured.
He glanced at Ray. “Maybe later,” he replied quietly. “If I could avail myself of your couch downstairs and your laptop for a bit, I could drink one then?”
I frowned, briefly confused, then realized he didn’t want a straight-up human watching him drink blood. “Sure.”
“Did it work?” Andi demanded, pouring coffee in her cup then passing the carafe to Ray, who passed it on.
“If you’re referring to the initial breaking of the bond between Meg and her sire, that would be no,” Risto said drily. “As I found out when he assaulted her and was injured in her dream. It is broken now; I saw to that just after she awakened with bruising on her throat.” Risto sagged. “He’s much stronger than I thought,” he admitted. “If you are referring to the attempt to push him into his final death, that also failed. Richmond failed in attempting to behead him before he awakened.”
“Is he still at Walmart?” Ray asked.
Richmond shrugged, spreading his hands. “We don’t know. Risto retrieved me just before you got back. I’ll require the use of a computer I can use to access the cameras I placed.”
I cleared my throat as I picked up my cup of coffee. “How close was the attempt to success?”
Richmond scowled. “I had the kukri raised and the swing down started. He snapped awake, rolled. He grabbed my wrist as the stroke came down, spun, and threw me into a vertical support, and fled. I couldn’t pursue,” he answered.
It was probably a good thing, I thought, that Richmond had been immobilized. If they were roughly equal in strength, then ass-face would likely beat him with sneaky, and manage to kill him. Cornered rats, and all that. “What time did all this happen?”
“Around two and a half hours before sunset,” Richmond said. “I woke a bit before that, but had to find him.”
“So we need to either assume he’s capable of waking earlier and doesn’t bother, or that he was close to waking, felt you, and panicked enough to wake a bit early and escape,” Ray mused.
“That latter option was the conclusion I had reached while waiting for rescue, yes,” Richmond agreed.
“Which is why I will be going back very early tomorrow morning, assuming we can confirm he hasn’t left the building. I don’t see how he can find another place as well suited, though, so I concur with Meg’s opinion, and doubt that he’s moved. Especially not after Richmond failed to do him in,” Risto said. “I wake just after mid-day. With any luck, this can be finished early tomorrow afternoon.”
“So, that’s the plan?” Andi asked. “We’re just revising the one that didn’t work?”
“But it almost worked,” Richmond said, pounding his fist gently on the table in frustration. “It almost worked.”
“Which is why we’re revising it,” Risto said.
“Makes sense to me,” Ray agreed, shrugging. “I certainly don’t want to get any closer to him than I have to. Especially since I don’t know what will kill a vampire besides the beheading you mentioned.”
Richmond squirmed. “Forgive me if I’m less than comfortable teaching you to kill us,” he said. “I have enough trouble with the people I am supposed to protect from their peers. I’d distinctly prefer to not have to defend my people from yours, as well.”
Ray held his hands up. “I have no problems with most of y’all. But I got half a dozen serial killer cases that has the hallmarks of being vampires doing it.”
Risto and Richmond both focused their complete attention on Ray. “Really,” Richmond said. “That’s a bit not good.”
“Just a bit,” Ray said. “Can I get some contact info so I can
bring you in as a special consultant from time to time?”
Richmond looked over to Risto. “What do you think?”
The older vampire leaned back, tipping his head back to look at my ceiling. “I think maybe cooperating with a few peacekeepers might not be a bad thing, on the whole,” he said, “but we must remain mostly secret.”
“Who’d believe me?” Ray asked drily. He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and handed one of his cards over. “I was put on the impossible cases because somebody didn’t like me. I don’t care if I solve the cases officially or not, just so as I can stop the killers from keeping killing. My email’s on there, as well as my office phone. I’ll be here for another week, but no more than that. You can use those to get in contact with me if you need living help.”
Richmond stood with a wince, holding his hand out. “I’m looking forward to a partnership,” he said. “I’ll email you once I can, so that you can contact me as needed, as well.”
“Likewise looking forward to partnering with you,” Ray replied. “Why don’t you go see what those cameras of yours will show you?”
“I will do that very thing.”
I cleared my throat. “I need to get back to work. Money doesn’t make itself,” I said.
“And there’s not much else you can do,” Risto said. “Are you feeling useless?”
I shook my head. “More out of my depth. You all do this as your job. I’m just an accountant. Non-violent, unless attacked.”
“Well. You’ve been brought up to date on what’s been planned,” Richmond said. “And I will admit that you were right to avoid learning it until now.” He stopped and thought for a moment. “And your questions were helpful. If you come up with more things that you want to know, please ask. You may point out something else we missed.”
Fat Lady’s Warming Up
I woke feeling a sense of hope. I also woke a little later than usual—it was a good bit past sunset, and I was in my own bed. I scrambled into clothes and up the stairs. I felt like I’d been making up for lost sleep.
Andi was in front of my fire place, coffee ready. “It didn’t work,” she said baldly.
“What?” I wheezed.
“Apparently, his sense of self-preservation woke him about the same point it did with Richmond, yesterday: at the point of the downstroke,” Risto said quietly from my desk chair. I walked into the room to find him staring through my windows into my yard. “Even though I was far earlier than Richmond was in the attempt. I must confess I am at my wits’ end on how to handle this.”
Andi coughed a little. “I may have a suggestion,” she said, her voice small. “I’ve been down in Meg’s apartment while she was out. And out on the couch. I can see her during the day.”
Risto slowly swung around in my chair until he was facing Andi. “Really,” he said calmly. “And why were you down there to begin with?”
She rolled her eyes. “Who do you think brings in the deliveries of blood bags to prevent it from freezing and bursting on the porch? Who do you think puts it in her fridge so that it doesn’t go bad?” she asked drily. “Meg is my best friend. I would never do anything to hurt her, or let anyone else do something to hurt her, for that matter.”
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” I asked, confused. “I might have suggested you try your hand last night at the conference.”
“That would be why,” she said, looking sick. “I am an investigator, and a bail bondsperson. I’ve never killed anyone. I don’t want to kill anyone.”
“You wouldn’t be killing him,” I said patiently, sitting on the arm of her chair. I petted her hair “He’s already a corpse. He just isn’t smart enough to figure out he’s supposed to have laid down.”
“I could say the same thing about you,” she said drily.
I widened my eyes and caught up both her hands, bringing them up to my heart. “But I’m your best friend!” I wailed. “Abbot wouldn’t do that to Costello.”
“Before my time, Meg,” she said, the corner of her mouth twitching.
I shrugged, dropping our hands without letting go of hers. The fine tremor in her fingers suggested she needed the comfort. So did the death-grip she had on my hands. “Before mine, too, but they were funny.”
Risto cleared his throat. “I would like to examine some of your motives,” he said, staring at Andi.
I felt her hands go limp in mine, and looked down, then back up into her face. Her gaze was flat and blank, like she wasn’t there. “Yes.”
“Do you truly see vampires as people?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Do you see this as murder?”
“Yes. And no.”
He raised an eyebrow. “No? Why not?”
“Mad dog. Prison won’t work.” Her distress shone through whatever Risto was doing to her to force her answers. “Justifiable homicide. Not murder.”
Risto leaned back and looked away, bringing a hand up and rubbing the bridge of his nose with a sigh. Andi blinked and shuddered, hard. And then started shivering. She couldn’t stop shaking. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and waited. “I’m sorry I did that,” he offered.
“No, you’re not,” she replied.
“On some level, I am,” he corrected. “I did need to know how you truly thought and felt. But I am sorry I had to force you like that to get the confirmation of truth that I had to have. I am…certain…that you can be trusted with knowledge of how to handle a problem like this.”
“How I’d handle a problem like this,” Andi said slowly, staring at her hands. She spoke like every word was being pulled out of her by force. Or perhaps pushed out because she knew it had to be said, but didn’t want to say it. “How I’d handle this is I’d go in just after dawn, and take its head off with a machete. He may sense you coming, but I’m just another prey animal to him. What happens to the corpse?”
Risto looked down, spreading his hands. “It depends on the age of the vampire,” he said. “When the head is gone—not the heart, the head—then the body takes on the fundamental nature it would have had, were decay not deferred.”
I stiffened, thinking of what Andi and Ray had told me of the tissue they’d found in my stomach and beneath my nails. “My autopsy report,” I murmured. “He’s old—at least a couple hundred years.”
“Then likely, his corpse will age to match how long he’s been dead, fast enough that you won’t see it happen,” Risto said.
“Or smell it?” I asked, wanting clarification.
“What? No, you won’t smell it. The most you’ll smell would be dust. Goodness, child, you have a morbid imagination,” Risto said.
Andi sighed. “Then it won’t be like killing a living person? No blood, no blood smell, no body? Just a mummy?”
Risto shook his head. “No, dear one. It won’t. There would be a corpse, but likely nothing more than fragments of skin, some hair, and bone, by this point.”
She nodded spastically and swallowed hard. “I can do that, then. I think,” she said.
I sighed. “I’d be happier keeping you and Ray just a little farther from him. Physically.”
“Ray’s gonna be a ways farther back, with a shotgun,” Andi said. “Or, at least, he will if I have my say in it.”
I blinked, wondering if there was another possible way to actually kill ass-face permanently. I looked from Andi over to Risto. “Would blowing his head off with a shotgun from a few yards away do?” I asked. “I really, really don’t want either of my friends in physical reach the way they’d be with trying to cut his head off.”
“I am…unsure,” Risto said slowly. “Those were invented long after my time.”
I blinked. “How old are you, then?” I asked.
He eyed me, a smirk pulling at the corner of his lip. “I remember Gaul.”
Andi sighed. “Unless my public school was worse than I thought, wasn’t Gaul what the Romans called the Western part of Europe? Like France and Spain?”
“Yes,” he said dryly. “A
nd I am older than that.”
I blinked, trying to imagine the weight. And I couldn’t. I shuddered. “I don’t want to live that long,” I murmured.
“Most don’t,” Risto agreed. “But I’m still doing what I love: teaching.”
Andi shivered. “I’m gonna go take a very, very hot bath for a while.”
“Where are Richmond and Ray?” I asked.
“They’re upstairs,” Andi answered. “In the office up there. Rob’s got a laptop, now, and he and Ray are watching cameras. And Ray had a floor plan of Walmart printed off, and Rob’s marking where he found ass-face.”
“Williams,” Risto corrected. “And Richmond prefers his surname or his full first name to any nickname.”
“Williams,” Andi agreed, rolling her eyes. “And then Risto, here, is going to mark where he found him this afternoon. I’ll be going in just after dawn tomorrow, when I’m told all vampires are at their most dead. And I’ve got a machete that I bought that looks more like a katana, and gives me a lot more reach than the kukri Rob was using, or the—what was it you had?”
“An axe,” Risto said, sighing and shaking his head. “Size extra large. Really, would it kill you to call Richmond what he prefers to be called?”
“Probably not, but I’m still not likely to,” she said. She considered her options. “So, I’m going to be a little farther back.” She bit her bottom lip. “I hope this works. We’re coming up on when he’s going to be choosing his next victim.”
I nodded. “I’ll get drunk with you tomorrow night, and we can watch whatever horrible chick movie you want to,” I offered.
“Yeah, I may take you up on that,” she said, shuddering. “After I let Ray comfort me for a few hours while y’all are sleeping.”
I watched her go, and listened as she climbed the stairs slowly. “I can’t protect her from this, can I?”
“Can’t you?” he asked. He turned his attention to me, setting his chin in his cupped hand.
“How can I? What am I supposed to do?” I asked, frustrated. I pushed myself to my feet and started pacing. “Am I supposed to go after him tonight? After she’s gone to bed? Because that would just get me killed.”
