This went on for several minutes until Jack saw the accomplices run from the backyard. Simmons ended up slamming the door and disappearing into her house. Jack placed the anonymous call to the police he planned in his head. He jazzed it up as best he could. Child abuse, drugs in the house, wild orgies with random men.
Despite his call, it took ten minutes for the police to show up. It was only one squad car, but it was a start.
"Look!" Tiffany said, pointing. "Miss Simmons is finally gonna get in trouble."
"That she is. She'll have a fun time explaining why she has cocaine, heroin, and ecstasy scattered all over her house."
Tiffany giggled as she brought her hands to her mouth. Jack laughed at her and held out his hand.
"Give me five."
She slapped his palm and continued giggling.
"Okay, let's get going. At the least, this buys us a few days to get more paperwork in order. What do you say we-"
Gunshots cut Jack off. He turned his head in the direction of Simmons' house. There were two more gunshots, followed by shouting, and then children’s screams. A woman jogging on the sidewalk stopped and searched for the source of the noise. A single car driving by slowed down before continuing on its way.
"What the fuck?" Jack said.
He left his truck and stood in the middle of the street. Tiffany joined him and stayed by his side. A few neighbors left their houses and loitered on their front lawns, talking and shouting at each other.
"Was that a gun?"
"Did you hear where it came from?"
"Did it come from Andrea's house?"
He looked down at Tiffany.
"Does Simmons have a gun?"
The girl stuttered. "I...don't know. I don't think so. Maybe she does. She always hides something in her closet and locks it."
Jack thought it over for a moment. He laughed as he heard police sirens in the distance. This was turning out far better than he'd hoped.
"Let's go."
"What? Why?"
"This is beautiful. Don't you get it? Simmons will never look for you again, not if she's in there shooting the place up."
"Sara and Carrie are in there!"
"I don't care. You told me you didn't even like Carrie, that she was always pushing you around."
"I don't want them to die. We have to help them."
He clenched his fist in anger. Dropping to one knee, he stared into Tiffany's innocent eyes. He was quite sure she wouldn't understand what he was about to tell her. Victoria never understood, and she was a four-hundred-year-old vampire. But he had to try.
"Tiffany, listen. Everyone dies. Sara and Carrie, they are going to die. Even if they don't die today, they will die, and it won't affect our lives any. Whether I help them or not, it doesn't matter."
"It matters."
He nearly raised his voice, but somehow remained calm.
"Okay, explain to me how? Do you really like Sara and Carrie? Are you related to them? Are they your best friends? Do they enrich your life? Here's a good one, if you needed their help, would they give it to you?"
"Miss Simmons is mean, and she'll hurt them."
He shook his head. There was no use in debating with a young child.
Police cars pulled up as more people left their houses. Small crowds gathered on the street.
"Do you see this?" Jack asked, waving his hands around. "The super cops are here. We're not needed. Let's go."
Instead of turning around, Tiffany made a move and sprinted around him. She aimed for the house, but Jack scooped her under the arms before she could gain any distance. She cried out in pain. He wasn’t rough with her, but her shoulder was still bruised.
"Sorry, sorry," he said, placing her in the back of his truck. "What the hell do you think you’re doing?"
"I’ll help Sara and Carrie. We did this."
"Would you keep your voice down? We didn’t do this. I did this, and I think I’ll find a way to live with the immense guilt."
"But you’re nice," she said, wiping her eyes. "You bought me breakfast, and let me stay with you. If you’re not gonna help them, then we have to stay and make sure they’re okay."
Jack’s lip twitched as he looked at the young girl. A few days ago he was happily listening to The Beatles while he worked in his garden. Now he was trying to rationalize with an eight-year-old, and losing.
He reached for his phone. Victoria finally answered.
"Where have you been?" he asked. "I tried to call earlier."
"I’ve been busy. I’m working a case, believe it or not. Although the only thing in danger right now is the prostitute’s boredom level."
"What?"
"Nevermind. You need me already? Wow, it feels like old times."
"I could use some help, yeah," he said, and then gave her the address.
"You didn’t kill anyone, did you?"
"Nope, much to my regret."
"Okay, I’m on my way."
He looked around as two more police cars arrived, along with a few news vans.
"We’ll be here. Things are getting interesting."
*****
Jack leaned against his truck as he watched the circus around him. It was incredible how fast the media worked in the twenty-first century. Reporters were giving live reports on what had apparently turned into a hostage situation. He listened to the speculation around him that foster-mother Andrea Simmons had apparently shot at a police officer before locking herself into a room with two young children.
He saw a Porsche at the end of the street, but there were too many cars blocking that end. It disappeared down the block, and several minutes later Victoria jogged up toward them. Even with everything happening around them, the vampire turned heads. She had ditched the shorts and bikini-top for a pair of jeans and a white tee shirt.
Tiffany cried as she hugged Victoria around the neck. She returned the hug and stood by Jack’s side.
"What’s going on?"
"Seven squad cars, thirteen cops, six reporters, one of whom is absolutely gorgeous. We've also got your standard vulture mobs and a lot of shouting. I heard a reporter say Simmons is inside with two girls and a gun. It's like watching TV."
"Subtle, Jack. Real subtle."
"Hey, this wasn't me. My idea was perfect. Make everything with Tiffany legal, and give Simmons more on her plate to worry about than an eight-year-old. I had drugs scattered all over her house. Parkville PD came, but apparently they have monkeys working for them and couldn't arrest a middle-aged woman. And here we are."
Victoria sighed and looked at the mass of people around them.
"And here we are. So, what do you want to do? Save the kids?"
"Yup."
She looked at him quizzically. "Why? I know it's been a while since we've hung out before yesterday, but that's not your style."
"Are you serious? Children are the future. They're so precious and all that shit."
She stared at him a moment longer before he rolled his eyes and nodded his head at Tiffany. The girl stood in between them, still in the truck, and flashed Victoria a bright smile.
Victoria simply laughed at Jack.
"What?" he said.
"Nothing. So...what to do, what to do?"
Her head turned sharply to the street corner not far away. The intersection still had a steady flow of traffic, unlike the opposite end of the street. She concentrated on cutting through all the distractions and focused her hearing. She heard a bus, maybe a few blocks away.
"You owe me. You know that, right?" she said, and gestured to Tiffany. "Make sure she doesn't watch."
Jack opened his mouth to speak, but Victoria turned and walked away. She cut across the sidewalk and walked in the middle of the street toward the intersection. He grabbed Tiffany and turned her away when he realized Victoria didn't plan on stopping.
The bus struck her from the side. It screeched to a halt as her body hit the ground and rolled more times than Jack could count. Drivers slammed their brak
es as the crowds in front of Simmons' house gawked at the accident.
Reporters and a few police made their way to the scene. Cars stopped and crashed into each other to avoid hitting Victoria's body in the street. Some people screamed and ran, flailing their hands in the air.
It was the perfect distraction.
He scooped Tiffany up and set her behind the wheel of the truck. She stared at Jack, more confused than afraid.
"What happened? Where did Victoria go?"
"Listen to me. Do not leave this truck, understand? You stay here until I get back. I'm gonna lock the doors. Don't open them for anyone."
"But I want to go with you."
"Not this time. Stay put."
"I don't want you to go," she cried. "I don't want you to get hurt."
He nearly coughed at the complete reversal. Ten minutes ago she wanted him to storm in the house.
"I won't get hurt. Trust me on that, that's a promise. Nothing can hurt me. Again, stay in this truck."
He shut the door behind her and walked toward Simmons' house. There were still news crews running around, trying to figure what to shoot. Jack didn't hesitate in strolling across the lawn and through the open front door.
It took him only a few seconds to assess what was in front of him. Six policemen, all hiding in different positions in the living room. A hallway led away from the living room, and another officer leaned out of what might have been a bedroom. There was a closed door at the end of the hall, obviously where Simmons was.
"You don't want to do this, Andrea," the office down the hall shouted. "You love those girls."
Andrea's voice came from behind the closed door.
"I'll shoot these two brats in the head!"
Sara and Carrie were alive.
An officer near the couch turned and saw Jack.
"Hey, you can't-"
Jack interrupted his sentence by kicking him in the jaw. The officer shouted in pain and fell to his side. Jack pounced on him and rammed his head into the floor. Quick, efficient, perhaps a bit brutal, but necessary.
He grabbed a can of pepper-spray from his belt.
The rest of the officers turned, and it only took them a second to raise their weapons. He wasn't sure what the procedure was for a situation like this. Would they try to subdue him? Reason with him, like they were attempting with Andrea?
His questions were answered when two of them opened fire.
Jack laughed aloud as bullet after bullet struck him, and fell uselessly to the floor. He'd been shot thousands of times over the years, and this time was no different. There wasn't any pain, no penetration. But the sensation was almost like tickling, and he couldn't help but laugh and squirm as he made his way to closest man and unleashed pepper-spray in his face.
Another officer ran at him. Jack simply ducked and flipped the man over his back, sending him over the couch and crashing onto the coffee table. He lunged forward and pepper-sprayed another officer, sending him to the floor in tears.
The last two officers backed down the hall. One reloaded while the other continued to fire. One shot struck Jack in the eye, which didn't hurt, but did make him flinch.
"What the hell?" an officer shouted.
Jack tackled one of them against the wall. He elbowed him a few times in the face, breaking his nose, before squirting pepper-spray once again. The last officer standing wrapped an arm around Jack's throat, trying to squeeze the life out of him. Jack rolled his eyes as he grabbed the officer's arm and propped his legs against the wall. He pushed with his feet with all his strength. The officer's body slammed into the wall behind them and the wind rushed out of him. He held on for as long as he could, but aside from not feeling pain, Jack also didn't need to breathe. The officer gasped, and his grip loosened ever so slightly.
They fell to the floor together. Jack immediately grabbed the officer's uniform and headbutted him until he stopped moving.
He climbed to his feet. A few of the officers moaned in pain. People still shouted outside. Jack smiled as he heard a footstep in the bedroom behind him, followed by a squeaky floorboard.
"Uh, what's going on out there?" Simmons asked.
Jack reared back and kicked the door open.
Andrea Simmons flew back and landed on the floor. The gun she was holding sailed across the room and rested against the wall. She tried to crawl to it, but Jack was much faster. He subdued the woman easily.
"Get off me!" she shouted.
"Shut your mouth!"
He looked to the right to see two girls holding each other and crying. They were crouching at the foot of a bed, leaning against the wall. When they made eye contact with Jack they squealed and cried even more.
"Sara and Carrie? Get out of here, and hold your breath. Someone left a ton of pepper-spray out there."
They ran as fast as they could, jumping over the fallen police officers.
It was tempting to kill her. A simple twist of the neck would do it. But he didn't spend fifty thousand dollars to simply kill the woman. Letting her live was the best choice. She would be in jail and court for years.
He leaned close to her ear.
"You'd better get used to prison. Or I will find you and kill you."
Jumping to his feet, he ran and crashed through the bedroom window as more police flooded into the house. Broken glass cut his skin, but he healed before he even hit the ground. He sprinted just out of sight of the house before slowing to a walk. He strolled down the alley and rounded the block.
There were ambulances where Victoria was hit. He approached just in time to see two paramedics loading a gurney into the back of an ambulance and shutting the door.
He kept his head low as he approached his truck. Tears ran down Tiffany's face as she watched him through the window. He gestured for her to slide over before opening the door.
"Jack! You're okay!"
"Of course I'm okay."
"I saw Sara and Carrie. You saved them. I wanted to hug them, but I stayed in the truck."
"Good."
"What happened to your shirt?"
Jack looked down. His shirt was riddled with tiny holes. Bullets wouldn't penetrate his skin, but they had no problem with his clothes.
He looked at the house. Paramedics and other police were helping the men Jack assaulted. The last thing he needed was for any of them to catch a glimpse of him.
"Mosquitoes. A lot of them. Buckle your seat-belt. We're leaving."
CHAPTER 8
The sun had nearly set when a knock came at the front door. Jack opened the door to see Victoria, dressed in sweatpants and a tank-top. She gave him a small smile and shook her head.
"You owe me some jeans and a shirt."
He laughed as he stepped aside to let her in.
"And you cry to me about being subtle," he said.
"Hey, it worked, didn’t it?"
"Did it hurt?"
"No, Jack, getting hit by a bus actually feels good."
"What happened?"
"It knocked me out for a while. But I woke up in the ambulance before they could do anything invasive. I had to drink from two nurses in the hospital."
"Were they women?"
"Funny. Everything go okay on your end?"
"Perfectly. Everyone’s alive, some a little more beat up than others. I keep expecting people to show up with cell phone footage of me beating the shit out of six cops."
Victoria waved dismissively as she sat on the couch. "There’s footage of me killing vampires at Camden Yards. It means nothing."
"I still think it would have all went better if I just killed Simmons, or just let her kill those kids."
"Why didn’t you?"
He sighed as he sat next to her. "The rugrat asked me not to, so I didn’t."
"Why are you doing all of this? I don’t get it. Watching after a kid, it’s not really you."
"Maybe I’m just bored. I don’t know. She makes me laugh."
"Who’s upstairs with her?"
Ja
ck wished he had Victoria’s senses.
"Two guys from the store, helping put together a bed, a dresser, all that fun stuff. Tiffany’s up there giving them orders."
"I didn’t know they did same-day service."
"They do when you throw money at them."
Victoria laughed. "So, what’s next? You’re a foster-parent now. You gonna teach her how to be a killer?"
"I have to admit, I still wonder if I made a mistake. Tomorrow I’ll enroll her in school. But how the hell do I get her a family? Put an ad in the paper? Go door to door?"
"You’ll figure it out. We’ve done some pretty bad things in our lives. Especially you. I’m glad to see you finally doing something good for a change."
Jack nodded, and they sat in silence for a moment.
"Do you ever regret anything?" she asked. "Anything we’ve done?"
"You mean, like, killing a witch prematurely?"
She took a breath. "Jack, come on-"
"I’m joking," he said with a smile. "Regrets, no. Over in Germany during World War II I was actually caught. Nazi scientists had me strapped to a table for weeks, trying to figure out what I was all about. I went insane I think a few times, not being able to sleep or even move. One scientist got careless, and I broke free. I killed everyone in that facility. Doctors, janitors, women. Do I regret it? Nope."
Victoria felt a cold chill, a rare thing for her. She had done her share of necessary killing over her lifetime. But the ease at which it came to Jack was unnerving.
"You might want to avoid that bedtime story with Tiffany."
"That won’t be a problem, since she won’t be getting any stories out of me."
One of the men helping Tiffany poked his head down the stairs.
"Mr. Kursed, I think we’re about...whoa."
The worker lost words at the sight of Victoria. His eyes traveled along her. Victoria smiled at him and waved politely. Jack marveled at how one moment Victoria was the woman he knew, and the next she was a beautiful thirty-year-old redhead, all the way down to the mannerisms and body language. He hadn’t mastered camouflage like she had.
"Hey, that’s my sister," Jack said. "Were you about to say something?"
"Uh, we’re done, if you want to come take a look."
Jack and Victoria moved to the stairs. She grabbed his arm when the helper was out of earshot, on the bottom step.
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