Gator Baitin' (The Grateful Undead series Book 2)

by Susan Stec

  "What about Tootles? What are you going to do with her?" JoAnn asked from the stairs, hugging a squirming fur ball against her chest.

  Everyone turned in her direction.

  "I think we'll take her with us," Christopher said, grinning, evidently trying to crank up the animosity again.

  "No, you will not! You are not going to slap her in someone else, do you hear me?" JoAnn yelled.

  "Oh man, maybe we should slap her in JoAnn," Zaire said with a scowl.

  "I'm not human," JoAnn said.

  "No shit," Zaire answered.

  ~~~

  Chapter 25

  Hey, hey, you, you, come out of that mirror

  ~~~

  "I sure hope they don't find the gator," Christopher said. He sat in the middle of the backseat of the Jeep, leaning on the console and smiling at me.

  "Why not? It's not like finding the gator is going to change anything. We still have to find Pastor Julie," I remarked.

  "I'm not so sure Dorius wouldn't send some of us in another direction. He doesn't need everyone to find her." Christopher gave me a pointed look.

  Marcus looked over at me from the driver's seat. "He needs you."

  "Yeah, but he doesn't need me," Christopher added.

  Thinking about the whole Tootles thing really freaked me out. "I can't believe I summoned a dead dog. Not to mention talked to it. Dang, she's a piece of work. Makes me wonder what it's gonna be like talking to a demon, 'cause I'm thinking that's where we're headed."

  I rolled down my window, letting in the evening air, so thick you could bathe in it. The air conditioner vents in the Jeep were dripping.

  "I'm sure the bargain we'll have to strike with the demon will be a formidable one," Marcus said.

  "What about the original pact Dorius made? Isn't the demon breaking it by letting her out?" I asked.

  "Demons are notorious for finding loopholes," Marcus mused.

  I didn't find his remark at all funny. I was the one who would be doing the bargaining this time and I sure as hell didn't want any holes. I decided to mention my other idea. "I was wondering. I know this woman is a mate for Dorius. Will he ever walk away from her completely?" I eased into the conversation, building toward the question I really wanted to ask.

  "I wouldn't," Marcus answered.

  "Let's off the bitch." Christopher took the wind right out of my sails.

  "I'd suggest you stand back and let us… off her. Dorius is not yet over the last one you offed," Marcus said.

  "So you guys agree. We should try to destroy her this time?" I was a bit excited. The words 'hit man' came to mind. But that's what this was all about, wasn't it? We were heading toward just what all of us really wanted—Rogue Hunters whose sole mission was to rid the mortal world of rogues. There would always be immortal critters to deal with. I'm, pretty sure that blunder is never going to right itself, but to actually be going after demons and rogues?—that's quite another thing. As I pondered where my life had taken me, Marcus piped up.

  "Susan, all of us are required to keep our world safe. I thought this is what you wanted. If not, you could retire and make me little vampire babies."

  I was never much for the domestic side of life. Sitting home barefoot and preggers was not my idea of tripping the light fantastic. "No, I think I'll opt for the more interesting side of our immortal lives."

  Christopher put in his two cents. "I've always wanted to hunt rogues. Dorius never gave me a chance to prove myself. I may be trapped in this damn body, but I can keep up with the rest of you. That's why I started this. That's why I've done everything I've done. He better not take me off this case."

  Flashing lights and an accompanying siren exploded behind us.

  Christopher kneeled on the back seat and looked out the window. "There's a police car on our ass."

  "Great, just what we need. Any ideas, Fang-boy?"

  "Just floor it!" Christopher snipped. "We need to get to the river before the boat rental place closes." He slid down and sat back.

  Marcus slowed down and started to pull over.

  "Don't pull over! What if he calls us in?" Christopher warned.

  "If you let me handle this, I'm sure we will be back on the road in just a few minutes." Marcus pulled the Jeep to a stop on the shoulder of the interstate and cut the engine.

  "Don't mind-push him. He may remember us later," I ordered.

  "I assure you darling, if I mind-push… her, she will not remember a thing," Marcus said.

  I peeked between the seats. A tall woman with skin the color of fresh perked coffee, rounded the back of the Jeep, headed for his window.

  "License and registration, Sir."

  "Yes ma'am." Marcus pulled his wallet out of his pocket.

  The officer shined a flashlight into the back seat.

  Christopher smiled at her. "Do you have a gun?"

  "Yes I do, young man," she smiled, playing the flashlight over Marcus' driver's license.

  "Christopher, sit down please," Marcus ordered.

  "You're not my father! I don't have to listen to you!"

  "Sit down, Christopher!" Marcus said with a bit more authority.

  I was about to ask her why she pulled us over when Marcus gave me a look that told me to shut up. He reached in front of me, opening the glove compartment. I shooed his hand away and pulled the registration out of the Jeep instruction manual.

  "Here you go, officer. It's registered in my name." I handed it to her.

  "Does your insurance cover," she squinted at the driver's license, "Mr. Morizzio?"

  "Yes. Do you want my insurance card?" I asked.

  "Please," she answered.

  "I'm hungry, so we better get going?" Christopher said with way too much meaning in his words.

  I ignored him, digging around for the insurance card. I pulled it out and handed it to her.

  "Be right back little man, I'm sure you won't starve to death." She grinned and turned to go back to the police car.

  "Great. Now what do we do? She knows who we are."

  "I assure you, Susan, she does not know what we are." Marcus laughed.

  "Why the hell didn't you just mind-push her?" Christopher asked.

  "I can handle this, Christopher," Marcus warned. "Act like what you appear to be."

  "See, that's just what I mean. Everyone always makes me play the part. Well, I'm sick of it. Let me out of this damn car. I'll take care of her." Christopher climbed into the front seat. He jumped into my lap, reaching for the door handle. I was arm-wrestling him when the officer returned.

  "Mr. Morizzio, you're license has a Miami address. Are you residing here now?" the office asked.

  "Just visiting my fiancé," Marcus answered, grabbing Christopher's knee.

  "And who does the child belong to?" the officer asked.

  "I don't belong to anyone but myself!"

  "Christopher, you and I are going to have a talk later," Marcus warned. "If you do not settle down, it will not be one you will find amusing."

  They glared at each other.

  "The child doesn't look fond of you, Mr. Morizzio," the officer remarked.

  Christopher scampered over the center console into the backseat, shoved his face against the back window and made disgusting faces, slathering up the glass.

  "Children can be quite cantankerous when a new father is being introduced," Marcus said in a soft reassuring voice.

  "I pulled you over because the child is not in a car seat. Did you know we have a child seat law for children under five-years-old or less than four feet tall?"

  I jumped right in. "Yes ma'am, we do, and Christopher threw his into the lake this morning. I was going to replace it tomorrow when I do my shopping at Wal-Mart."

  "I am not sitting in a stupid kid's seat!" Christopher hammered the window behind Marcus with both of his small fists.

  "He seems like quite a handful." The officer handed Marcus the documents and he handed me everything but his driver's license.

 
; "I can't let you back on the road without one," she said.

  "Screw this! Fuckin' mind-push the bitch or I will!" Christopher yelled.

  The officer tilted her head, a questioning look on her face.

  I ground off a layer of tooth this time and glared at him in the rear view mirror. "That's enough Christopher. I'm taking your Wii games away as soon as we get home!" I turned to the officer. "He plays those silly games every chance he gets and they seem to warp reality."

  My eyes warned Christopher—he shot me a middle finger and hissed. The officer got a good look at his extended fangs. "Here's reality for ya, bitch. Fangs! I'm one hundred years old and I'm a blood-sucking vampire!"

  The officer backed up two feet and drew her gun.

  Marcus and I opened our doors, both sliding from the seats.

  Christopher leapt from the car, strutting toward the officer at a speed only our immortal eyes caught.

  One minute the woman was watching the car, gun extended, arms outstretched, the next Christopher was right in her face.

  She slowly moved the barrel of the gun down with jittery hands, then froze, shaking her head as Christopher locked eyes with her.

  The officer's face went blank. Marcus pushed, Let him have this, Susan. Don't move.

  I didn't move.

  After what seemed like forever, she shook her head and sputtered, "I'll give you a warning this time, but…but…I've already called this into the station. You might want to get the car seat to avoid further…further…" The officer collapsed on the ground. Christopher jumped on her chest, fangs grazing her neck.

  "No biting!" I screamed.

  Christopher tilted his head toward me, grinning, his fangs dripping saliva as he retracted them.

  * * * *

  "I'm not sitting in a friggin' car seat," Christopher said as I opened the car door, having just purchased another car seat from J C Penny's in a strip-mall off the interstate.

  "Wasted money—I'm gonna toss it." Christopher slurped from a McDonald's cup.

  "Just set it beside you in case we get pulled over again. We'll have to drag the damn thing with us every time we go somewhere." I pulled the seat out of the box and handed it to him.

  He threw it against the other side of the back seat then dug into his McDonald's bag for any loose French fries. "Well, I bet the friggin' boat rental place is closed! Good job assholes. If you would've just mind-pushed the bitch and hit the road, we would've made it."

  "Are you enjoying that food?" I asked.

  "No. But I'm pissed off and I just love puking my brains out when I'm pissed." Christopher rapidly, front-tooth-chomped three long fries into his mouth.

  "I don't use my immortal skills on humans unless it is absolutely necessary, Christopher, nor should you."

  "Sh-yeah, well good luck with that, dude," Christopher guffawed.

  "Pull in there. It's the boat rental place I found." Christopher pointed at an old dilapidated building sitting way back off a dirt road. "It's fuckin' closed, but the river out back will lead us to where we need to go, and I'm not swimming the whole friggin' way, so we'll have to borrow a boat."

  "Where're we going?" I asked, getting out of the car.

  "Do you remember Julie telling Chick that they have a cabin on the river? Remember, she said Kim was there taking some time off because the pastor who was killed is a friend of hers? I looked up the location and you can only reach it by water. I thought we'd have a look around. I pulled an aerial off the web." Christopher took a piece of folded paper out of his back pocket and handed it to me.

  Marcus ran off, headed for the marina. I laid it on the ground, spreading it out. Christopher pulled his purple penlight out of his pants and flipped it on, sending a trail of light over the paper. The aerial was etched with a red magic marker leading up the river, jutting in and out of a few tributaries and ending with an X, marking the spot where we were headed.

  "It might be tricky, but I think we can find it." Christopher played the light along the red marker.

  "I don't know, man. It all looks the same to me."

  Before he could put up a rebuttal, I heard an engine come to life and we both turned toward the docks.

  "Let's move it. Don't worry. I'll find it." Christopher clicked off the light and headed for the docks. I shook my head and followed, thinking this was going to be a mosquito-ridden night into water moccasin heaven.

  We'd been motoring for an hour. Jeni had already checked in twice. We told her we were hunting for the cabin and she relayed the message to Dorius. We were almost there when she called in again.

  Mommy, Dorius wants to know your location.

  Marcus shot me a warning glance as we motored down a thin dark canal.

  I pushed the talk button. "Don't have an exact location. Tell him we're in a boat out in the middle of BFE, trying to find the cabin." I got a thumbs-up from Christopher.

  Marcus pointed to a small light about fifty yards off the water's edge as Jeni's soft voice penetrated my ear, interrupting the singing frogs and crickets along the river bed.

  He's not going to be happy with that answer. He talked to Eval and didn't get any more information. He just finished meeting with the council and they're probably going to send the man to Italy for sentencing. Since the girls got plenty of proof of the murders Eval committed, it doesn't look good for him.

  Dorius is heading back soon, and since Nanna and her merry band of immortals didn't find the gator, he's expecting something from you guys.

  I pushed the button to communicate with her again. "We're doing the best we can. I'll get back to you as soon as we have anything. Where's JoAnn?"

  She's in her room with Tootles.

  "Copy that. I still haven't figured out what we're going to do with the damn dog. I guess we can talk about it later. I'll call you as soon as we have something." I clicked the call button off as Marcus pulled the small boat up to the edge of a very thin tributary leading towards the light in the woods.

  "You think that's it?" I whispered.

  "It's in the right place. I don't suppose you two want to hang here while I have a look around?" Christopher asked.

  "Not on your undead life," I answered.

  Christopher and I climbed out twenty feet from a vacant dock.

  "I think we should hide the boat in case anyone comes up," I suggested.

  "There's a small river leading off in another direction at the end of the tributary about a hundred yards back," Marcus said. "I'll motor back, hide the boat, and catch up with you in a few minutes. Don't go in until I get there."

  "No problem." Christopher smiled.

  I watched Marcus as he made the turn, and Christopher grabbed my arm, signaling me to follow him.

  Light streamed out onto the porch from a large window by the front door of the cabin as we approached, but the interior was extremely quiet. The exterior however, was alive with sounds of the night. Frogs croaked, critters scrambled, and cicadas sang as we made our way around the cabin.

  "We want to surprise them. Let's go peek in the back windows." Christopher kept walking. I followed.

  There was an open window about seven feet off the ground on the side of the cabin near the back. "Pssst!" I pointed at it.

  Christopher did the thumb on the chest thing then pointed to my shoulders.

  I raised an eyebrow.

  He glared at me.

  Reluctantly I gave him a boost up. He wrapped his hands around my face and climbed. I turned circles trying to push his butt over my shoulder, tripped on something, and we both fell with a thud.

  Neither of us moved.

  After two or three minutes, no noise coming from the cabin, I got to my feet, rubbing my butt. I raised my shoulders and showed him my palms. He pointed to the window, signaling he wanted to give it one more try.

  I shoved my tongue up under my lip, and then hooded my eyes. He gave me an 'Aw come on' look. I threw up my hands.

  He smiled a sheepish, pleeease.

  I glared at hi
m and bent over again. He put his foot in my linked hands, hopped up, and rode me like a horse. I leaned against the cabin wall, and from there it was easy for him to climb up on my shoulders. Holding his ankles, I looked up at him. He grabbed the window ledge, pulled himself higher, and on tiptoes, looked inside.

  Susan, do not let him go in that cabin. Marcus shouted in my head, making me jump at least four inches off the ground. Christopher lost purchase and started dancing on my shoulders. We looked like a long wet noodle as I tried to balance him. He fell against the building with a crack.

  We froze again.

  He looked down at me and shot his hand in the direction of the window.

  I baby stepped toward the cabin wall and he peeked in again. "I can see the whole cabin. It's basically one room, and there's no one in there. Let's go around front and see if we can get in."

  "Marcus said we needed to wait for him. That's why I jumped. He frigging yelled at me."

  Christopher jumped off my back. "Screw him! Dorius said this was my team. I say we go in." Christopher strutted toward the front of the cabin.

  "Fine, but you can deal with Marcus when he gets here." I reluctantly followed.

  We carefully walked up to the front porch and stopped. Christopher sniffed the air around his face.

  "What?" I asked.

  "The demon's here. I can smell it."

  ~~~

  Chapter 26

  Blackness sleeps inside a gold framed bed…

  ~~~

  The front door was cracked open an inch. I paused, but Christopher pulled the door open.

  "Shouldn't we check the perimeter?" I asked, not moving. I wanted to knock the crap out of him.

  "No! Get over here!"

  I ambled closer, looked in the door, and angrily whispered in Christopher's ear, "This isn't one room. There's a door over there." I pointed toward the back of the cabin.

  "So, let's check it out," Christopher mouthed back, and started to head for the door.

  I yanked him back, my lips on his ear. "Why do I keep listening to you? You really don't know what the hell you're doing most of the time," I said in a hushed tone with as much venom as I could muster.