by Rob Cornell
Like always, Teresa had that half-cocked grin on her face along with the lift to her chin as if challenging the whole world to take a swing. But Lockman also noticed the quiver in her lips and the way she couldn’t keep her hands still. “You’re scared.”
She jutted her chin. “So? I’ve seen you spooked.”
“I’m not criticizing you. But whatever it is must be serious.”
She rubbed the tops of her thighs then clasped her hands together and trapped them between her knees. “It’s not like the old days anymore. No one is keeping things in check. I swear to Christ we’re headed for the apocalypse.”
“You’re still in the game, then?”
“Freelance, like Rodriquez.”
Lockman didn’t have the heart to tell her Rod had been another casualty courtesy of Otto Dolan. “Lots of work?”
“Fucking mojo everywhere you turn. But this time… I was supposed to be on vacation.”
Lockman sipped his scotch, giving her time to come to it on her own.
She gazed down at her hands. “Would you believe me if I told you New Orleans has a vampire problem?”
“Only if you’re talking about Anne Rice novels. There’s never been any real activity down there.”
“There is now. I did some digging. Seems after Katrina hit, vamps saw an opportunity to find easy prey. A whole bunch of them migrated down.”
“How many?”
She shrugged. “No idea. Enough to find a pattern if you’re looking for one. It’s almost like hiding in plain sight, though. I guess the crowd down there is a little desensitized to murders featuring bodies drained of blood.”
Gravity seemed to double as Lockman realized where this was headed. “Your sister was killed?”
She bit on her lip and stared into the air between them, her eyes focused on a memory. “Sis had just graduated Harvard Law. This was our planned celebration trip. Both of us were ambushed. Three vamps. I took out two, but the third…”
“He got Mandy.”
Her gaze shifted back to the present and screwed onto Lockman. “He took her.”
Lockman titled his head. “What do you mean, ‘took her?’”
“He didn’t kill her. He picked her up and carried her away.”
“Oh, Tree.” Gravity pressed even harder against his shoulders. “She’s gone. You know that right? He probably just took her someplace…quiet.”
“The two I fought off were fresh turns.”
For whatever twisted reason, once vamps found themselves on the mortal plane, they could turn humans into their own kind. Just like the mortal mythology. Though it wasn’t as common a practice as films and books portrayed. Human’s made better food than friends.
“I don’t want to be cold,” Lockman said. “But Mandy is dead. And even if she isn’t. If they turned her, she’s as good as dead.”
“I know you’re right.” She wiped at her eyes. “I know. But I can’t be sure. Maybe she got away. Maybe she’s lost down there, hurt. Maybe they took her for some other reason.”
“You know as well as I do, vamps only have one use for mortals.”
She slapped the table. “I have to be sure.”
Lockman sighed. He stared into Teresa’s frightened and confused eyes. Her personal stake had clouded her judgment, but he couldn’t fault her for that. The same had happened to him last summer. “I don’t know what you think I can do.”
“Help me find her.”
“I’m out of the game. Way out. I have responsibilities here. People I care about.”
“Hiding out in a cabin under a fake name. That’s the life you want?”
“It’s the life I chose.”
“Bullshit. You settled because some woman’s got you by the cock.”
While the sweat had cooled on his skin from the work outside, a new wave of heat spread through him. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know who you are at your core. I know you’re a man who used to stand for something. Who fought to protect his country from threats nobody even knows exist.”
The golden chalice. The lamb’s blood. A father’s hard and greedy hands. He squeezed his eyes shut and willed the images away. “I’m not who you think I am.”
“Then who are you?”
A lie conjured by the very mojo we once swore to fight.
But telling her that wouldn’t help either of them.
“I can’t help you. I want to. But I can’t.”
“Because your woman won’t let you.”
“Because I’m not about to put Kate or my daughter at risk again.”
That stopped her as he knew it would. She sat open-mouthed for a moment before blinking away her shock. “A daughter? Damn. When did that happen?”
“Long story.”
She ran a hand through her hair.
Lockman remembered what it felt like to run his own hands through that hair. They’d both been young. Cocky. All about having a good time between jobs, and the juvenile pleasure of breaking Agency protocol with their tryst.
“So that’s it?” Teresa asked.
“I’m sorry.”
She waved a hand. “Don’t. You’ve got nothing to be sorry about.”
Lockman lifted the bottle of scotch. “Another?”
“Hit me.”
For a while, they drank in silence. Lockman took the time to process everything since finding Teresa out in the woods. He realized he had missed an important question.
“How’d you find me?”
She smirked over the lip of her glass. “You’re tagged, Craig.”
He glanced down at his right foot. Long ago, his former boss, Victor Creed, had implanted a tracking chip in Lockman’s right heel. All part of the Agency keeping track of their special project. “How do you know about that?”
“You know how it is in this business. Stuff gets out. I pulled some strings and landed one of the trackers.” She reached into a pocket and withdrew a device that looked like a thicker version of an iPhone with extra buttons along the side. She tossed the device onto the table. “You really should get that thing removed.”
“I thought everyone who knew about it was dead.”
“Which brings up another question.” She crossed her arms. “Why are you tagged?”
He took a deep breath, wondering how he could put this without decimating Teresa’s entire view of him. But there was no delicate way to tell a person you used to be someone else. “Did you know Dolan had a brother?”
She hitched a shoulder. “Rumors, mostly. He was supposed to be a big-time magical sensitive. But the Agency put him down a long time ago.”
“They didn’t put him down,” he said. “They turned him into me.”
Subject breached, he had nothing left to do but explain it all. He started by summarizing the events of last summer. How Dolan tracked him down through Jessie. Lockman’s ensuing efforts to find out who had betrayed him, while protecting the daughter he never knew he had. Then the bomb Tanner dropped on him that Creed later confirmed—Craig Lockman was a fabrication, a collection of false memories swapped with Gabriel’s, all in the name of National Security against paranormal threats.
She scrunched up her face and swatted a hand through the air. “Get the fuck out of here.”
He waited, face straight, to give her time to realize he was serious—or draw her blade and take a swipe at him.
She sagged in her seat. Her brow creased. “Jesus Christ.”
“You’re not going to try to kill me?”
“Are you kidding? You didn’t know. I can’t believe Creed did that to you.”
“He thought he was doing the right thing. Instead of killing Gabriel, he imprisoned his soul in an artifact and used that same artifact to create…me.”
“You’re not totally pissed at him? I’d want to rip his dick off and use it to poke his eyeballs out.”
“I’ve come to terms. Besides, some good came out of the whole thing.”
Teresa smiled. “Your da
ughter.”
He finished off his Scotch. “She changed my life.”
Chapter Five
The last thing Kate expected to find when she got home with Jessie was an attractive blonde in Craig’s arms.
“Uh-oh,” Jessie said.
Craig and the woman stood by the couch, the woman’s arms wrapped around Craig, her cheek pressed against his chest. Tears streaked her face.
At the sound of Kate and Jessie’s entrance, Craig started.
The woman pulled away and wiped at her eyes.
“Kate,” Craig said, almost breathless.
Kate’s face flushed. Her throat constricted, which made it hard to speak. When she did, her voice came out with a rasp. “Who is this?”
“An old friend from the Agency.”
The Agency?
Now her arms tensed with the urge to break something. After the conversation she just had with Jessie about having to stay out of sight of the world of supernatural creatures and blood-driven magic, and here he had a woman from the Agency in their home?
The woman held out her hand. “Teresa Stevenson.”
Not quite pushed to the realm of rudeness, Kate shook Teresa’s hand. The woman squeezed a bit too hard, as if trying to prove something.
Craig stepped between them. “How’d it go at school?”
Kate lifted an eyebrow. “How did it go? Your daughter…” She glanced over Craig’s shoulder at Teresa. “Can we discuss this in private?”
Teresa held up her hands. “Know what? I need to make a phone call anyway. I’ll step outside. How’s the reception out here?”
Kate glared at her. She couldn’t believe how badly she wanted to punch this woman in the face.
Teresa must have seen it writ in Kate’s expression. “I have good service. Sure I’ll be fine.” She slipped between Kate and Jessie, then out the front door.
Kate turned her attention to Craig. “What the hell is going on?”
“She came here for help.”
Jessie snorted. “You definitely looked helpful.”
Kate whirled on her and speared a finger in the direction of the bedrooms. “Go to your room.”
“Whatever.” Jessie trudged into her room and slammed the door.
Craig stepped forward and tried to put his hands on Kate’s shoulders.
She shrunk out of reach. “Really? You bring someone from the Agency into our home? I thought we were done with all that.”
“We are. She came here for Christ’s sake. I didn’t go seek her out.”
“But you let her in our home. And you sure as hell didn’t look too put out by her visit.”
“Her sister was taken by vampires. I was comforting her.” He narrowed his eyes. “Are you jealous?”
“No.” She crossed her arms and huffed, almost convincing herself. “I’m pissed off that you’re even considering going back into that life.”
“Did I say I was going anywhere?”
“You said she asked for your help.”
“That’s right. And I told her I couldn’t. I told her I had a life and responsibilities here. And then, right before you walked in the door, we said our goodbyes.”
Kate closed her eyes, shook her head. How stupid. What a fool she’d made of herself.
“Hey.” Craig put his arms around her. “I promised you I would never put you and Jess at risk again. I’ll die before I let anything happen to you.”
Kate rested her forehead against his chest. “I know. It didn’t help that I’d just come from a horrible meeting with Jessie’s principal.”
“What was it this time?”
“Jessie’s cutting herself again.”
“Fuck.” He drew away from her and ran his hands over his scalp. “This isn’t going to stop, is it?”
“She nearly blew our cover with the principal. I swear she was on the verge of telling him everything just to spite me.”
Craig turned toward Jess’s bedroom. “I’ll go talk to her.”
“What about your friend?”
He frowned. “Could you, you know, keep her company until I’m done?”
Her skin crawled at the idea. What on earth would she have to talk about with that woman? “How about I tell her you’re busy being a father and she can see her way out?”
He cocked his head like he wanted to protest.
“You’ve already said your goodbyes, remember?”
He pointed at her. “Just don’t be nasty to her. She a good person in a bad place right now.”
Her cheeks flushed. Again she felt foolish. “Thank you,” she said.
“For what?”
“For sticking by me.”
He cupped her cheek with a hand and kissed her gently. “We’re in this for the long haul. I’m not going anywhere.”
Chapter Six
Teresa made sure she stood a good distance from the cabin before making the call. A mosquito buzzed in her ear as she dialed. She swatted it away, looked at the thick woods surrounding the cabin, and wondered how Craig could stand it. She needed steel and concrete. The bustle of other lives around her. Traffic noise and industrial smells. One thing was for sure. She fucking hated mosquitoes.
The one that harassed her ear landed on her arm.
She tucked her cell phone between her ear and shoulder while it rang. When the mosquito began to feed on her blood, she squeezed the flesh around where it had pierced her. A trick she’d learned from Mandy as kids. Eventually, the mosquito burst, spattering its and Teresa’s blood on her arm.
Fucking blood sucker.
If only it were that easy to kill vamps.
“What is it?” came the voice through the phone.
If she didn’t know any better, Teresa could imagine him as a handsome radio announcer. A ridiculous thought, considering who he really was. “He’s not going for it.”
“Really? I find that hard to believe.”
“He’s got a girlfriend.”
“And a daughter. So what?”
“You knew about his daughter? How come you didn’t tell me?”
“If I had to take the time to tell you everything you don’t know, both our phone bills would hit six figures at least.”
Teresa kicked at a stone on the ground, tipping it over. A clump of beetles skittered in panicked circles from the disturbance. Teresa jumped back. “Look, I know you’re trying to help. I get why, too. But we don’t need Craig. There’s plenty of freelancers out there we could recruit.”
“Are you going to pay for them?”
“Don’t screw with me. You have resources.”
“It doesn’t matter. We need Lockman on this.”
She looked toward the cabin. “Why?”
“Another one of those things you don’t know that I don’t have time to tell you.”
Teresa tightened her grip on her phone. “You are making me regret coming to you.”
“Trust me, you never had a choice. This is all meant to be.”
“Losing my sister is not some part of your stupid grand destiny.”
“Think what you want.”
“Well, it’s like I said.” She kicked the stone back in place, covering the beetles. “He doesn’t want to help.”
The voice on the phone laughed. “Sweetheart, he wants to help. He just needs a little more motivation.”
“So what do we do?”
“We motivate him.”
Chapter Seven
Lockman turned the knob to Jessie’s bedroom door and found it locked. He knocked. “Jess, open the door.”
“Go away.”
“I only give two warnings.”
Silence for a moment. “And then what?”
Lockman kicked the door. The old wooden jamb splintered easily and the door swung open.
Jessie sat in the center of her room. On the floor beneath her she had drawn a pentagram in chalk. A hardcover book lay open at her side. A single candle burned in front of her and smelled of lavender. A framed picture stood on the other side of
the candle. Lockman recognized the face—Jessie’s old boyfriend, Ryan. As he took in these details, Jessie drew a steak knife across her palm.
“What the hell are you doing?” Lockman’s voice buzzed in the corners of the room, the sound so ragged he did not recognize it as his own.
Jessie started and dropped the knife. But she had done enough damage. Blood dripped from her hand and pattered onto the floor. “Get out of my room.”
“Are you trying to kill yourself?”
“Get out. You have no right to barge in on me.”
“You’re a fourteen year-old girl who’ll be lucky to make it to fifteen if you keep cutting yourself. This can’t go on.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “I could have saved him. But you’d rather let him rot in a mental hospital.”
“Quit being so God damned melodramatic. There’s nothing you could have done for Ryan.”
“I did it for mom.”
Lockman inhaled deep through his nose. A knot twisted in his gut like it did every time he told the lie. “That was a fluke. There was a lot of mojo swirling around that place. It just happened to come together in our favor.”
Her eyes narrowed. The scowl on her face said everything. She hated him. She blamed him. Whatever ground they had gained in their relationship had eroded the more and more Jessie let this obsession consume her. “You said there’s no such thing as good magic.”
“Look at your hand. Look at your arms. What’s good about that?”
“How could it just ‘come together in our favor’ then? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“There’s a lot of things that don’t make sense in this world. You should know that by now.”
“See? You pretend to know all about this stuff. But you really don’t know anything.”
“I know that hurting yourself won’t save Ryan. I know that inside you is a strong, passionate girl that’s tearing herself apart because the boy she loved sacrificed himself to save her.”
Her lip quivered. The tears streaked down her cheeks. Lockman remembered a time when those tears would have smeared black makeup all over her face. She had stopped wearing makeup altogether. Stopped spending much time at all grooming herself outside of showering and brushing her teeth.
