Double Trouble (Taz Bell Book 5)

by Sharon Green

  "If he chooses to let us know," George murmured, then turned to talk to the Hunter seated to his left. The man, Seth Forrester, had looked downright curious when George joined us, and now it was clear the Hunter meant to put all sorts of questions to our ghostly teammate. Which George didn't mind, otherwise he would have made sure not to be seated next to the man.

  Lori McCullough, the Hunters magic user, was seated at the end of our side of the table, with Amiol in the next seat. Those two might have been talking shop, since both of them looked really interested. Freemont sat at the end of the other side of the table, with Jon Fulbright next to him. They also seemed to be talking shop, since Jon was the sensitive for their team. Next to Jon was Martin Lane, their gun expert, and next to Jon, also in a conversation with him, was Eric. Next to Eric was Todd, who sat to Elaine's right.

  We all got to order drinks and food before Oldon showed up. The vampire was dressed in the same casual way the men on both teams were, and he even made an effort not to glide as much as he normally did. The restaurant worker who led him to the table and seated him with a smile may not have known he was a vampire, but even if she did she might not have cared. Most people don't have my prejudice against those who weren't alive in the same way I was…

  "Oldon, I'd like you to meet Elaine Graubec and Todd Millner, two members of Hunters, Inc. who wanted to meet you," I said once the vampire was settled in his chair. "If they ask for an autograph, I'd suggest you make sure it isn't a check you're signing."

  All three of the beings involved laughed in surprise at the nonsense, and Oldon shook his head.

  "I don't believe you said that," he told me, a definite glint of amusement in his dark eyes. "You seem to have a very … free sense of humor when you aren't working, Taz."

  "Saying things like that isn't free, it's crazy," I corrected, wondering myself why I'd made the comment. "I don't usually get that crazy, but being on vacation is bringing out an odd side of me. If I say something that crazy again, just pretend I'm not here."

  "That's exactly what I intend to do," Elaine agreed kind of dryly, then she returned her attention to the newcomer. "Tell me, Oldon, are you going to try the Whippe they serve here? I've been wondering if they use something other than fruit to flavor the dish."

  "I am not going to be eating salsa Whippe if that's what they have," Oldon stated flatly even though he was smiling. "I never handled spicy foods well even when I was alive. Trying them again now is something I have no interest in doing. But what I do wish they had was a new offering just released by a Japanese firm. Unfortunately it's probably too soon for it to be available everywhere."

  "What sort of new thing have they come up with?" Todd asked while Elaine and I made sounds of interest. "I thought there was a limit to what you can do with blood without ruining it."

  "Apparently they haven't reached that limit yet," Oldon answered. "The new thing is called Boast, and it's supposed to be something like a wedge of toasted bread. I have no idea how they'd accomplish that, but I do know I want to try it."

  "Boast instead of toast," I said, considering the name and what it represented. "The b has to stand for blood, but the whole name is probably what the company wants to do: boast about their accomplishment. I don't think I can blame them."

  The others agreed with me, and then a waitress came over to take Oldon's order. He checked the menu and chose the pear Whippe, and the girl left again to get what he'd asked for.

  "You know, I wonder if all vampires would do badly with spices," I mused once the waitress was gone. "If so, it would make life easier for us when we went after rogue vamps. We could put some hot peppers in their blood supply, then trap them when they went racing around looking for water to stop the burning."

  Todd and Elaine laughed at the idea, but Oldon threw his head back and roared out what looked like delight. His appreciation of the comment made it funnier for the rest of us, and when he stopped laughing he shook his head.

  "You have no idea what picture your idea conjured up for me to look at," he said, still chuckling a little. "The last rogue I went after, before Atlanta, was this really smarmy female who considered herself better than everyone else in the world. I would have enjoyed seeing her racing around like that, remembering only at the last moment that vampires don't drink water."

  "I hadn't realized that you were also a full-time rogue hunter," Todd said after we all appreciated the picture Oldon had drawn. "Can you tell us something about how things went in Atlanta from your point of view? We've already gotten the other side of the story from Taz and her teammates."

  "I'll bet Taz and her teammates didn't mention how they kept me from falling flat on my face," Oldon said, only glancing at me while speaking to the others. "Until now I've been pretty much working alone, and almost exclusively within the vampire community. If we'd gone with my original plan to take the rogues in charge of the mess, there would have been a lot of … disturbance when we found the three waiting for us. Taz and Eric changed all that, and we were able to take the three before they knew we were there."

  "In other words, my teammates and I are used to being sneaky but Oldon isn't," I put in, ignoring the raised brows Elaine and Todd were showing. "Our associate here had a lot of backup for us to hide behind, but that doesn't mean it would have been right to put that backup in harm's way. If people are going to be fighting on your side, you want to make sure they don't regret having offered."

  "Not everyone would have looked at the matter in the same way," Oldon countered, his tone saying he wasn't about to change his mind on the point. "After all, my force consisted of vampires rather than people, or that's the way others would have seen it. And you should have seen how Taz smacked down the rogue who tried to take her over. She seems to have developed a lot of power of her own from being a shapeshifter, and the way she used that power was beautiful to see."

  Elaine and Todd demanded details about what had happened, and Oldon supplied those details with relish and the next thing to glee. It was perfectly obvious how much he'd enjoyed seeing the rogue slapped down, and that point really impressed the Hunters people. Oldon clearly made no excuses for rogues, even if they were beings like himself. Or maybe especially if they were beings like himself.

  At that point our food was brought, so we all dug in. I had no idea what I was eating, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the meal. At one point the restaurant people started something like a sing-along, and people were urged to stand up on their chairs while singing. Most of the others at our table didn't hesitate to stand on their chairs, but we four in our corner didn't join them. All we did was laugh at them, which didn't bother the singer-standers in the least.

  Once all the singing was done everyone made sure that the food was also done. We swallowed everything that had been brought us, then sat over our drinks for a few minutes before leaving. Our two teams had been prepared to pay for our meals, but that wasn't allowed to happen. Oldon insisted on paying the entire bill, and even put down cash for the tip. If he hadn't done that I would have supplied the cash, and I had the feeling Elaine or Todd would have joined me in the effort.

  We finally left our table and headed for the front door, but a few steps before we reached it Freemont stopped and put up his arms.

  "Hold it, people," he said, immediately gaining everyone's attention. "I hate to say this, but something's about to happen that might ruin our good time. Are you getting what I am, Jon?"

  "I'm not getting anything but a vague sense of possible danger," Jon Fulbright answered with a frown and a distant stare. "No details, just the feeling."

  "I'm not getting many details either, but I'm not unsure," Freemont responded, no longer looking distant himself. "Once we leave the restaurant we have to be very alert."

  "That means we can't just mosey outside," I said at once. "Those of us who are fighters will go out first, and only once we're out will the rest follow. Elaine, my team will take point if your team is willing to be backup."

  "No p
roblem, Taz," Elaine answered, Todd and a couple of the others moving over to where Elaine stood. "We're all armed, but we'll probably be best off if we don't have to use the guns. If we do have to use them, though, we won't hesitate."

  I nodded, knowing she wasn't just talking, and then I led the way to the door and out. Eric and Amiol were right with me and so was George, but also so was Oldon. The vampire had lost his amusement, and I knew just how he felt. Someone thought they were going to ruin our good time, but we were even more determined to extend our good time by ruining them…

  Chapter Five

  There weren't as many people walking around on the street as there had been earlier, but the area was definitely not deserted. I tested the scent brought on a small breeze, which let me know an instant before the attack what was about to happen. I knew the scents of those suddenly jumping out at us, since I'd encountered those same scents that morning.

  I had no idea how the six hotel invaders had gotten away from the police, but the question wasn't immediately relevant. What was important was meeting their attack, which was probably supposed to come as a complete surprise for us. Unfortunately for them, that didn't happen.

  I saw Oldon, out of the corner of my eye on the right, grab two of the attackers by their throats and hold them still. The one coming at me was the leader, the one I'd punched in his family jewels. Putting a side kick into him as he rushed forward wasn't hard, and that slowed his rush the easy way. Once he'd stopped moving I added a punch to his heart region, which put him down to the ground and kept him there.

  Eric was immediately to my left, and he was happily involved with beating the hell out of the fool he'd punched that morning. The fool must have expected to get some payback for the morning, but things just didn't work out for him. These fools might have been shapeshifters, but they knew almost nothing about real fighting. Next to Eric was George, who had put himself inside another of the attackers. I couldn't see George, but the way the attacker crouched and shivered and mewled told the whole story.

  The last of the attackers was frozen in mid-step, courtesy of Amiol. The dark elf stood with one hand raised in the attacker's direction, a smile on his face to show that his spell had worked just the way he'd wanted it to. By the time I saw that, Eric finished up with his own attacker and that accounted for the lot of them.

  "Nicely done, people," Oldon said from where he stood in front of his two, the men making no effort to do anything but stare into space. That meant he had them under control, the gentlest stop any of the six had run into. "Now it might help to find out why these people have come to make our acquaintance."

  "We first made their acquaintance this morning, at the pool," I told Oldon. "They decided that invading a private hotel would be fun, and unfortunately for them they chose the hotel we were at. Dan and his people showed up just as Eric and I were cooling off two of them, and then his men dragged these six away to be arrested by the police. I'd like to know how they got out of jail so easily."

  "You heard the question," Oldon said to his two captives. "One of you answer the lady."

  "Rex, our leader, got us out," the fool on the left answered at once, most likely talking about the one I'd disposed of. "We were supposed to be waiting to be taken into court, but Rex convinced one of the cops that we'd just be given a fine for trespassing and then let go. He told the cop that we'd rather pay him than the court, which we did as soon as the idiot let us out of the cell. Rex also hired some punks to keep watch on the hotel where you all were, and when the punks found out where the bunch of you were going we were able to show up and wait until you came out."

  "Incredible," Oldon said with a groan behind the words. "It's hard to believe that a grown man and a police officer could be that credulous, and maybe he wasn't. It's possible the man needed some extra money, so he made no effort to find out if he was being told the truth. Now I'll have to speak to a friend of mine about this group, to make sure they don't waltz out of jail again."

  By now the rest of our group had come out of the restaurant and up to us, and George had taken himself out of the attacker he'd stopped. The man knelt on the ground with his arms around himself, making no effort to do anything beyond shaking and moaning. Two of Elaine's teammates had guns pointed at the captives still able to move, so the situation seemed well in hand.

  Oldon pulled out his cell phone and punched in a number, and then he had a short conversation with someone. He told the someone we'd been attacked and where we were, and then he ended the call.

  "My friend will be here with help in a little while," Oldon reported once he put the phone away. "Until then we've been asked to keep an eye on this bunch to make sure they don't disappear again."

  I nodded to show I had no argument with waiting, and the wait really wasn't very long. In just a few minutes I could hear the sound of sirens heading in our direction, but by then a question had occurred to me.

  "You know, Oldon, I have a feeling that we're missing something," I mused, moving my gaze to the man who had told us what we wanted to know. "The biggest problem with questioning people under control is that you have to figure out what questions to ask. I think we should have asked if these rogues did anything beyond what we were told about."

  "That's an excellent point," Oldon agreed as he also examined his prisoners. "Better late than never, they say, but… You, the one who spoke before. Did you fools do anything else beside what you already told us about?"

  "Rex made sure that everyone who got in our way would pay up," the man answered at once, his face and voice showing nothing of emotion. "He had those locals find some friends, and while we were enjoying ourselves here the locals would be setting fire to that hotel. They ought to be starting soon."

  I cursed out loud while I pulled out my phone, and then I was calling Dan Czarek. I had his number in my phone, which was pure good luck. Dan answered on the second ring, and I didn't even wait for him to finish greeting me by name.

  "Dan, you've got to put all of your people on alert," I interrupted to say harshly. "Those rogues from this morning have hired some locals, and they intend to burn down the hotel – with everyone still inside. After you send some of your people to locate the firebugs, get word down below for everyone to come up to ground level. If a fire does get started…"

  "Tell him I'm calling Mio," Oldon put in, his own cell phone in his hands. "That should help to get everyone out of there safely."

  "Tell Oldon I heard him," Dan said at once. "I'll also have to check the suites higher up that might have people in them, so I'd better get started."

  "Have whoever is on the desk try calling the rooms that have someone registered in them," I suggested before he could disconnect. "If he can't reach someone by phone, then you can send one of your people."

  "Good idea and will do," Dan acknowledged. "See you later."

  Neither of us wasted time saying goodbye, so I turned off my phone and put it away. By now the vehicles with sirens I'd heard a minute earlier were pulling up to the curb, and then a large number of beings were getting out. I say beings rather than people, because most of those just arriving were vampires.

  The being out ahead of the pack headed straight for Olden. I thought at first that my eyesight was being affected by the dark around us, turning the being's face into shadow, but I turned out to be wrong. The male vamp was tall and thin, and his face was covered by what looked like a blue mask. His eyes, mouth, and the bottom of his nose were open to the air, but the rest of his face was covered. I had the impression that he looked like a comic book hero without the tights and cape, and then he stopped in front of us.

  "Felippe, thank you for getting here so fast," Oldon said, his smile wide and warm. "I wanted us to get together during my visit down here, but I hadn't expected to make the get-together official."

  "I'm not surprised that our visit did turn out to be official," the vamp Felippe answered, only the smallest trace of an accent in his voice along with amusement. "If you ever came down and there
wasn't trouble, my brother, I'd start to believe the end of the world was coming."

  "No worries on that score this time, my brother," Oldon answered, his increased amusement clear before it faded. "Thanks to the lady here, we just found out that this bunch of rogues also hired some of your locals to burn down our hotel. We've alerted the guard force at the hotel, but just in case…"

  "But just in case I'll send some of my own people to give them a hand," Felippe said when Oldon's voice trailed off, the newcomer's hand reaching for his phone. "Give me just a minute, please."

  Felippe turned away as he hit the buttons on his phone, and a moment later he was speaking into the instrument. His conversation didn't take long, and then he walked back to us.

  "My people will have a fire engine company with them, just in case," Felippe told us as he also looked around. "For a group that has just been attacked, these folks don't look very upset, my brother. Can you explain the oddity?"

  "There's nothing odd about it, my brother," Oldon answered with a wide grin. "These idiot rogues attacked the members of Rogues, Inc. and Hunters, Inc., two of the most successful rogue-hunting groups in the States. If they'd bothered to check, they would have found out they didn't have a prayer of coming out on top."

  "I find that very amusing, Oldon," Felippe said, and his chuckle was perfectly clear. "Talk about poetic justice… You jump on somebody, intending to do them harm, but the victim turns out to be Gargantua in disguise. I love it, I really do."

  The two of them were grinning and chuckling, enjoying the joke, and I just couldn't stand it.

  "All right, I know this is intruding, but I just have to ask," I said, looking back and forth between them. "Were you two given the wrong vampire training, or what? Didn't anyone ever tell you that this behavior was ruinous for the image?"

  For an instant the two vampires stared at me, and then they were roaring out their laughter and all but doubling over and rolling on the ground. I was absolutely delighted that I'd given the two beings such a good laugh, but I still hadn't had my question answered.