In Black We Trust

by J. C. Andrijeski

  “Like what?” Lawless said, frowning.

  Black let out a humorless sound, quirking an eyebrow at him.

  “What reasons do you think, brother?” he said, snorting as he reached for the ice bucket, pulling out a handful of ice cubes and plunking them in his rocks glass. “They wanted to weaponize the fucking things. They wanted to create some kind of vampire army. A hybrid one, ideally, maybe because they were fooling themselves it’d be easier to control.”

  Grunting, he frowned towards the dark lawn and the back of the house.

  “Some of them also wanted to ally with the vampire clans directly,” he added, glancing between Lawless and Lex. “See if they could use them against their enemies. Infiltrate other countries, that kind of thing. They planned to leverage their knowledge of the existence of their race against the vampire leadership. Blackmailing them, essentially.”

  He grunted again, in disbelief that time.

  “Like that wasn’t going to get them killed some dark night,” he added. “Really fucking stupid, as I said. They had no idea what they were up against. The Colonel said he tried to reason with them, but you know what some of those crazy assholes are like.”

  “Who’s running things?” Lex said. “Who started all of this? Before my dad got involved?”

  Black turned as he was reaching for the bottle.

  His voice grew subdued, neutral.

  “Your dad didn’t know the top name, like I said. The names he did know, he wouldn’t share. He said he couldn’t.”

  “And you have no idea?” Lex said, skeptical.

  Black exhaled, unscrewing the top of the bottle.

  He didn’t answer while he poured more of the bourbon into his glass, offering the bottle around before he re-capped it and set it on the table. Leaning back in his chair, he looked at Lex.

  “Silver was in it somehow,” he said finally.

  “Silver? Malcolm Silver?” Lawless said. “That hawk in Congress?”

  Black glanced at him, nodding, once.

  “Father of Logan Silver,” Manny muttered, frowning. “That kid’s got a screw loose. Maybe more than one.”

  Still frowning, he took a long drink from his own glass, giving Black a sideways look.

  “So we can guess who the contractors were for that lab. And for whatever other side projects that committee had going on. Do you know anything about where they’ve been keeping that vampire king you brought in? Brick?”

  Black returned his frown, but didn’t answer at first.

  Glancing at me, he gripped my leg tightly in one hand, then shook his head.

  “No,” he said.

  Lex frowned, glancing at Lawless and Manny before he looked at Black.

  “You think a vampire did this,” he said. “You think that’s why the old man looked like that. You think a vampire killed him.”

  “Or he was fed to one,” Manny muttered from behind his glass.

  Black glanced at Manny, then at Lex.

  Leaning his arms on the table, he nodded, once.

  “Yes,” he said.

  That time, his voice was close to a growl.

  3

  MEN IN BLACK

  I SAW THEM before anyone else at our table did.

  Black, Lawless, Lex and Manny were talking amongst themselves, pausing periodically to pour more bourbon and drink. I listened with one part of my mind, but Black and Manny were still mostly filling the others in about vampires.

  I heard Black explain more of the physiological differences.

  He explained the effects of vampire venom on humans and seers, how they could read the minds of their victims while feeding on them––and for a time afterwards, while the blood was still in their system. I heard Black explain how they could neutralize the abilities of seers in various ways, even when they weren’t feeding on them.

  I heard Manny describe the vampires we’d encountered in New Mexico.

  I must have been listening relatively closely, since I’m not sure when I first noticed the new group of suit-wearing agents who arrived at the Colonel’s house. I was listening to the others talk as I watched the agents walk around the side of the house and begin casing the crowd. I listened to Manny describe the disappearances of children from his Navajo town as the agents dispersed among the remaining reception guests, their presence strangely inconspicuous.

  They all wore black suits, so that might have been part of it. At first they seemed to blend in with the other guests.

  Then I noticed the earpieces they wore.

  Also, the crowd had dwindled a fair bit by then. I at least recognized most of the faces I saw as I glanced around the Holmes’ backyard.

  Lex’s brother, Stephen, and one of their sisters were sprawled out with their spouses and kids at one of the tables. Their mother sat at another table with a priest and another brother, who was holding her hand, along with his wife and their teenaged daughter. What might have been neighbors or friends sat at that table as well. I recognized their faces from the funeral, and from the speeches towards the end of the church service.

  A number of what looked like military-types stood and talked, drinks in their hands. One group sat around a wooden table by the turtle pond, smoking cigars and drinking brandy.

  Conversations had gotten quieter, though, more subdued.

  It was probably close to ten o’clock at night, so the crowd was thinning, particularly of acquaintances and strangers.

  Most of those left felt like old friends and family.

  The fact that these newcomers were clearly neither is probably why my eyes marked their progress through the crowd, and the direction of their gazes as they scanned faces.

  That’s when I saw one of the agents notice our table.

  He stopped, doing a double-take, his eyes sparking with recognition.

  That’s when if finally hit me.

  They were looking for us.

  Well, one of us, anyway.

  “Black.”

  I spoke quietly at first.

  My eyes remained on the tall, bald, black man in the black suit and tie over a white dress shirt. He’d touched his earpiece already, and now was signaling subtly with a hand to the agents who’d entered the reception with him. They all began making their way across the lawn in our direction. Watching them, I felt my spine stiffen.

  My light flickered out to read theirs.

  I hit a blank wall. More than a blank wall. It was like hitting a thick piece of mirrored glass. My light slid off it, reflecting back in my direction, disorienting me. It didn’t feel like anything I’d ever encountered before.

  Moreover, I instantly got the feeling something felt me looking.

  My heart hammered in my chest.

  “Black,” I said, loud that time.

  He turned, sharp. Without looking at him, I nodded towards the six agents heading our way. All but one were men, I noticed. The woman with them was as tall as any of them, with a sharp, feral face that reminded me almost of the immigrant seer, Yarli.

  “You should go,” I told him, still staring at the woman agent. “Now, Black. I’ll find you.”

  The spark of interest in Black’s light altered, shifting his full attention to me, to the forward part of his mind.

  For the first time, it really hit me that he was drunk. His friends, not being seers and not having the constitutions of seers, were even drunker. They’d already dusted off most of that expensive bottle of bourbon.

  Great. That meant Black’s reflexes would be blunted.

  That wouldn’t exactly be an advantage right now.

  Watching the agents approach, that warning beacon went off louder in my light.

  “Black,” I repeated. “Go. Go now. I mean it.”

  I glanced around where we sat, trying to get a sense of how much of a head start he would really have, and how much cover he had. Tiki torches surrounded the area where we sat, and candles in round glass holders stood on all of the tables, including ours. Even so, the whole area of the g
arden where we sat was only about six feet away from complete darkness, and the fence to the next yard, which was also huge.

  The house next door also appeared to be dark. The neighbors weren’t home.

  “Black.” I turned that time, and saw him staring in the same direction I’d been looking. “I mean it, Black. Go. Now.”

  He gripped my hand on my lap, squeezing it, once.

  His light had shifted entirely now, growing as still as a held breath. He stared at the agents coming towards us, a animal-like light in his gold irises.

  Too late for that, doc.

  Not if you run. They won’t catch you if you run.

  It’s too late, Miri. I felt him mentally shake his head. Anyway, I’m not leaving you. Or Lawless. Or Manny, or Lex. And I’m not letting them shoot up the Colonel’s family and friends.

  They’ve got something shielding them. Vampires, or––

  It isn’t vampires, Black cut in. His thoughts turned grimmer. That isn’t vampires, Miri. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. It’s too late.

  Something about the way he said it sent a shiver up my spine.

  How would they have seers? I looked back at that female agent, biting my lip. Charles? Why would Charles be involved? And why would he risk his seers? I thought Charles had almost no female seers with him at all on this version of Earth?

  He obviously has at least one, Black said, grim.

  I followed his eyes back to the female agent, and felt something in my chest turn cold.

  Black, just go. We’ll be fine. They aren’t here for––

  “Mr. Black.”

  The man in front, the muscular black man with the broad shoulders I’d seen from across the lawn, flashed a badge at us, specifically at Black, holding it up long enough for him to see it clearly, then disappearing it inside his jacket pocket.

  “We’re with the Department of Homeland Security,” the man said. “You’re wanted for questioning on a matter of national security. We’re going to need you to come with us now, Mr. Black.”

  “What?” Lex frowned, staring up at them, then around at the other agents. “Are you fucking serious, man? This is a funeral. A funeral of a decorated officer.”

  The agent looked at him briefly, his eyes flat. “I understand that, sir. My condolences for your loss.” He glanced around the table, still with no emotion in his face, before his eyes returned to Black. “I’m afraid this can’t wait.”

  “What’s it about?” Lawless said, frowning up at him.

  “I can’t tell you that, sir.”

  He barely gave Lawless a glance. Even in that glance, I felt the majority of his attention still on Black. He wasn’t holding a weapon, but the way he stood there, the way they all stood there, they were ready for Black to resist.

  Looking around at all of them, I realized Black was right.

  They were expecting him to run. They expected a fight.

  “Mr. Black? Can you come with us please, sir? We have a car waiting.”

  Black smiled up at him. Gripping my thigh in his hand, he leaned back in the wooden folding chair, making that smile a little too broad. Something about his light exuded drunkenness, a kind of off-center tilt that pulled my light closer to his.

  I wondered if I was the only one who saw the harder look behind that smile.

  “Now?” he said, his voice a near scoff. “Really?” He motioned towards Lex. “You heard my man here, didn’t you? I’m at a funeral. Of an old friend, no less.”

  “As I already said, I apologize for the venue, Mr. Black… and the timing. But I’m afraid this can’t wait. It’s a matter of national security.”

  Don’t go with him. I gripped Black’s thigh under the table, digging my nails into his suit pants. I mean it. Don’t you dare go with them. Home-Sec or not, whoever they’re really working for, they don’t want you for questioning.

  I know, doc.

  Unlike his physical voice, his mental voice sounded stripped, devoid of emotion.

  It also sounded cold sober.

  Turning, he looked at me, that harder look shining in his eyes under the tiki torches.

  “You mind waiting for me, baby?” he said, smiling. “While I go do the hero thing?”

  He never called me baby. Never.

  I checked my watch, frowning. “You have a lot of meetings tomorrow. How long will you be?” I looked up at the half-ring of agents. “Do you need him for long?”

  “They don’t tell us that, ma’am.”

  Black leaned over, kissing my cheek.

  “Don’t worry. Whatever this is, I doubt it’ll take long.” Still smiling at me, he winked. His voice held a blur of alcohol when he added, “Just take the car back to the hotel. Take a nap if you get tired. I’ll call if it’s going to take longer than I think.”

  We didn’t have a hotel. We’d planned to fly back to San Francisco that night.

  I held his gaze, seeing and feeling the meaning there.

  My jaw hardened, but I only nodded.

  “Okay,” I said. “But I’d rather go with you.”

  I glanced up at the Home-Sec agents, but their leader was already shaking his head.

  “I’m afraid that’s not possible, ma’am. We’ll have him back to you as soon as we can.”

  I frowned, but didn’t respond.

  “Hey,” Black added casually, squeezing my arm. “I almost forgot. You mind driving these jokers back to our hotel with you? I told them they could check out our suite.” Grinning, he leaned closer, kissing the side of my face. “You mind doing that for me?” he murmured. “Give them the grand tour? Just have the driver take them back to their hotels after… or they can crash at our suite, if they want. Just don’t let them rack up the bar tab too much.”

  I fought not to frown, nodding to his words.

  “Sure,” I said. “Just don’t be too long, okay?”

  “I won’t be long,” he said, his eyes hard on mine. “Promise.”

  Feeling the meaning there even stronger that time, I gave him a perceptible nod.

  Rising to his feet, Black stretched a little, then walked around the table, towards the six agents waiting for him. I looked back towards the house and realized five more agents were stationed discretely on the pathways on either side, standing mostly in the shadows.

  “You heard me, boys and girls,” Black said, still grinning like he was drunk. He clapped the nearest agent on the back, making the big blond man jump. “I promised the missus I won’t be long. You don’t want to make a liar out of me, do you?”

  None of them answered.

  I watched as they surrounded Black, walking him back towards the house.

  They didn’t look like they were escorting a valuable asset going in for voluntary questioning. They definitely didn’t look like they were bringing Black in as some kind of consultant, or expert in whatever “national security” problem had arisen.

  He looked like someone in custody.

  They looked like they were escorting a prisoner.

  I waited until they disappeared into the shadows at the far side of the house, then I rose swiftly to my feet, looking down at Manny, Lawless and Lex.

  “Come on,” I said. “We don’t have much time.”

  Three sets of eyes looked up at me, their expressions blank.

  “Now!” I snapped, making them flinch. “Get the fuck up, now!”

  That time, they didn’t hesitate, scrambling as they collectively rose to their feet.

  I didn’t know for sure why Black wanted them along.

  I had to assume he thought they were in danger.

  Either way, I wasn’t exactly in a position to question it.

  I glanced back to make sure they were following me as I stalked away from the table, wishing I had something to wear other than the high-heeled shoes. As I looked back, I saw Manny grab the bottle of bourbon off the table as Lex and Lawless grabbed the beers. I was about to tell them to leave it, but they were behind me now, moving swiftly and almos
t silently across the lawn and into the side garden as they followed me into the dark.

  Letting it go, I focused on getting them to Black’s limousine in one piece.

  Even as I did, I started looking for Cowboy, Angel and Nick with my light.

  4

  RUN BOY RUN

  DALEJEM?

  I spoke loudly, more or less into the ether.

  I tried to picture him as I did it, the way I had with Charles, the one time I’d called to him using only my mind.

  Dalejem? I sent. Can you hear me?

  A presence rose in my mind and light. I felt a flicker of his surprise, along with a faint bewilderment as he realized who was contacting him.

  I almost wondered if I’d woken him up.

  Where are you? I sent. Are you on the plane? Black’s plane?

  I was approaching the limousine now, exchanging grim looks with Alice, who drove us out there. She was already out of the car and walking towards me, clearly sensing something was up. I wasn’t used to seeing the muscular Latina in a chauffeur’s outfit; normally she wore black combat pants like the rest of Black’s employees, and a black tank top showing off her impressive array of tattoos, including a giant phoenix that covered most of her upper chest.

  “What’s going on?” she asked me.

  “Get them in the car,” I told her. “Where’s Javier? Cowboy? Angel?”

  “They’re doing a perimeter walk––”

  “Call them in. Now. And get Kiko on the line, and Dex. Tell them we need a location on Black’s implant.”

  When her eyes widened, I snapped at her.

  “Now!”

  Her mouth closed at once. She walked to the car without another word, probably to grab her secured phone.

  “Follow her,” I told the others. “I’ll be right with you.”

  Lex frowned, looking me over, as if wondering what the hell I could do in a lace dress and four inch heels, but he walked closer to the limousine as well.

  Dalejem? I sent. You there? Or not?

  His mind rose at once. It was sharp, focused.

  Somehow I got the impression he’d already read me for the details.