"Holy crap," he whispered, his eyes round with astonishment.
"You heard that?" I had to know.
"I think you blasted a few of my brain cells with it."
"Come on," I grabbed his shirt again, ripping it this time. I just let go of the torn fabric and got a better grip, dragging him with me toward our parked vehicle. "What other records did you get for me?" I decided to ignore the mindspeech ability for the moment—that would require careful consideration on my part, after all.
"There's a restaurant—Francis' Barbecue, I think." He gave me the address. We drove there but they were closed. "We'll come back tomorrow," I said as we stared at the card listing the hours on the restaurant's door. I reached out for Joey again.
"Hey, watch it," he said, fending off my hand. "Why don't you say something like, 'Joey, are you ready to go, now?,' and I could say something like, 'Yeah Adam, let's do that,' and then we could walk calmly to the car, and I'd even get in with you, instead of you ripping my clothes off here in the street."
"Fine. Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah." We walked to the car and Joey climbed in without a word.
He was silent on the way to the safe house, too. I glanced at him a few times, but his face was set and his arms were crossed tightly over his chest. He'd worn a nice dress shirt and a pair of slacks with Loafers tonight. I hoped I hadn't ruined his one decent outfit.
He didn't say anything when we arrived at the safe house, either; he merely stalked into his bedroom and slammed the door. Thankfully, the door and frame were metal; it would have splintered, otherwise.
I called the number the Seer had given me after Joey locked himself inside his bedroom. The Seer answered on the third ring, so I let him know we had a witness and records that placed Merrill in Memphis seven days earlier. I told him we'd keep him informed if anything new came along and hung up. I had a cell phone with me, but the thing was too bulky to carry around. Usually I left it in my bag and only used it when I was forced to.
Dawn was still four hours away, but I didn't want to leave the house again with Joey in the temper he was in. I preferred not to be forced to chase him down in addition to Merrill. I pulled out a book I'd brought with me and settled down to read.
* * *
"Merrill, I'm in a phone booth in Memphis," Joey said into the pay phone. "Chessman's in the shower and I don't have much time. He found a waitress in a bar at the Fremond who remembered you."
"Don't worry, Joey. She doesn't have any important information she can give away."
"Well, we're going to that barbecue restaurant tonight. He'll be questioning those people, too."
"Don't let him hurt any of them."
"Like I could stop him. I gotta go," Joey hung up and raced back to the safe house.
* * *
Friday, April 9th
Joey was helping himself to a unit of blood when I walked into the kitchen to feed myself. He finished and dropped the empty bag into the compacter. "Still not speaking to me?" I asked.
Go to hell, Joey sent.
Some would say we're already there, I shot back. "Are you coming with me willingly tonight, or am I throwing you over my shoulder and carrying you?" I added aloud.
He gave me a sullen look. "I'm coming," he said.
"Good. Let's go." I grabbed the keys to the car and walked up the stairs, Joey right behind me.
We returned to the barbecue restaurant and were seated at a table. A waitress brought us water and asked if we wanted anything else to drink. We both said water was fine. I had to place compulsion on this one to find out if she or someone else had been working the night in question. She replied that she'd been off work that evening, but another waitress who was working the other side of the restaurant had been there. I told her to call the other waitress over. She went obediently.
The second waitress came to our table and I placed compulsion on her, too. She remembered the man, she told me.
"Nice looking man, for sure, with a bit of an accent. He had a plate full of barbecue."
"He didn't have a date who ate the order instead?"
"Oh, no. He ate all of it himself," she drawled.
Joey was watching this exchange worriedly. Are you sure you put compulsion on her? I don't think even the toughest vampire can sit down and eat a plate full of barbecue. I think if Joey could have gotten queasy, he would have.
We could eat when we had to, to appear normal, but it would come right up later; our systems wouldn't process it, and we'd have to get rid of it, somehow. Barbecue would be nasty in the extreme coming back up. Yes, I'm sure. There must be some explanation for this, but I'll be damned if I know what it is.
Joey shook his head in confusion. The waitress went on to tell us that the man paid by credit card and tipped very well.
We drove back to the Fremond, then, and talked to the desk clerk. I placed compulsion on him and Joey was a blur as he jumped behind the desk and started browsing the hotel's computer. He printed a copy of Merrill's bill; it had been paid with his bankcard, but room service had been placed on an American Express.
"See if you can find out what he ordered, Joey," I said. Only the amount was listed in the records.
"I don't have access to my computer system here," he told me. I looked over the rest of the bill. Room service had been delivered twice, I noticed. Unless he'd invited someone to his room, that shouldn't have been necessary. We questioned the desk clerk again, regarding any guests Merrill might have had in his room. He didn't know of any. We were at a dead end, it seemed.
"You didn't get any other information—charges or anything?" I asked.
"Nope. Didn't get a thing," Joey told me.
"Damn," I muttered.
"There's a branch of his bank close by, but it's closed, of course. Otherwise, I could try hacking into their system."
"Well, we may have to return to London and start over again."
"Yeah." Joey didn't sound upset.
"Fine." I led the way out of the hotel. I called Xavier when I got back to the safe house and arranged to have the jet pick us up the following evening. Joey tidied the safe house and we both packed.
* * *
Saturday, April 10th
I wasn't sorry to leave Memphis behind. Joey bemoaned the fact that he didn't get to see Graceland, but it was closed when he could have gone anyway. He didn't appreciate my pointing out that fact, however.
"I could have gotten in," he sniffed. I allowed him his delusions.
We only had a bit of darkness remaining when we arrived in London, and I told Joey I wanted to meet with him at midnight to go over anything else he might have gotten for me. I needed leads and they were scarce. He nodded and took a cab to his home there in London. I had a car waiting for me, and the driver dropped me off at my apartment. Dawn was coming, so I went to bed.
* * *
"Merrill, how long do you intend to keep this up? I think we need to devise another plan."
"Yes. Joey is already asking questions about my barbecue consumption. I passed it off as a joke, but I don't think I can keep up that charade. Chessman will ask questions, too, and he doesn't need to go down that path, brother."
"You talked to Joey earlier?"
"Yes. I passed some records off to him from two days ago. I asked someone I know who has one of my credit cards to make charges in New York. They'll go on another wild goose chase."
"We still need to come up with another plan. We have to meet with Chessman, sometime, in order to remove the compulsion. We may have to wipe some of this from Joey's mind as well; he may be able to put two and two together, and rather quickly, I might add. He isn't stupid, Merrill."
"I know. That's why I turned him, if you'll recall."
* * *
Sunday, April 11th
Joey walked into the coffee shop shortly after midnight. He had a folder in his hands and dropped it on the table in front of me. "He's been in New York," he said.
I flipped the folder open and looked
at the records—charges on the American Express card he'd used in Memphis, only these were from New York, one from a bar, another from a coffee shop such as this one. Both regular hangouts for vampires if they were looking for someone human to spend the night with; the vampire lust can be quite consuming, after all. I was surprised Joey hadn't been looking for someone while he'd been with me. Perhaps he had, and I just hadn't noticed. I knew many rumors had been swirling about me the past fifty years. Some said I was a eunuch; others said I was an aberration. Neither of those assumptions was true.
"Then we must go to New York," I sighed. We vampires do breathe, just not as often as our human counterparts. Breath allows us to speak. It would be extremely difficult, otherwise. We just didn't have a heartbeat. When I'd first been turned, I had no idea how much I'd miss it, but only after it was no longer present. Xavier, who turned me, told me long ago that the organ was still present in our bodies and not shriveled and black, like some might imagine. He said it looked like a normal heart would look, as did our liver and other major organs. We just didn't need them any longer. I wasn't sure how he'd come by this information, and after thinking about it for a while, decided I didn't want to know.
"We'll go to New York tomorrow," I informed Joey. "Meet me at the airport at eight." I was ready to leave when Joey jerked on my sleeve.
Adam, over there. He nodded slightly to our left.
I saw, through the window of the coffee shop, another vampire scraping his fangs across a young woman's neck. My body stilled. Did he see us?
I don't think so.
I had Joey up and out the door of that coffee shop so fast, we weren't even a blur. Only a paper napkin fluttering to the floor off a table near the doorway marked our passage. Do not alert him to our presence, I warned Joey. My Enforcers have been looking for this one. He is responsible for those murders in Madrid and Barcelona. I was holding Joey against the side of the building, which held the coffee shop and two other businesses.
Adam, calm down. I won't give us away.
Good. We need to follow him. If he holds to his normal pattern, he'll walk along with her, sipping her blood occasionally while she's under his compulsion. He'll take her into an alley eventually and sate himself, then slice her throat open and allow her to bleed to death. He can't drink her dry by himself.
Sick, Joey sent.
Come, he's moving, I returned. We followed our target for three blocks while a plan formed in my mind. Joey, I need you to carry me.
What? His sending was incredulous.
Just do it. I have to be stationary to become mist.
Joey started muttering "Ohmygodohmygodohmygod," even as he was lifting me into his arms.
Quiet, Joey. Do you want him to hear? Keep following him. We'll see if our little mind trick works while I'm mist.
How long will this take? Joey asked mentally. He was doing his best to keep from bouncing me around while he carried me. Vampires are all strong, no matter how tall or short they are. Joey carried me easily.
Three to five minutes. I was already beginning to fade.
Perfect. Just wonderful. I ignored him and concentrated on altering my body.
By the time our quarry turned his victim down a deserted alley between buildings, I was mist and had floated away from Joey's grasp. Can you hear me? I sent.
Yes.
Wait here at the corner, Joey. I will approach and observe. When I call you, you must come in and kill him.
What? Joey was backing up, preparing to break into a run.
Joey get back here! It will take another five minutes to change back, and the girl will be dead by then. Is that what you want?
No.
Then get back to the corner, and when I say move, you move, understand me? You need your claws and fangs out, in case he hears you. I want his back turned, so you'll surprise him instead. I want his head off cleanly, Joey, before he even knows you're there.
I think Joey gulped nervously. I imagined that he'd be sweating if he were still human. But he was no longer human. Vampires can experience fear, and he was definitely afraid. Joey, this is our chance—we've been tracking this one for months; he's killed at least thirty women that we know of. You need to do this, Joey.
Joey got himself under control and nodded. I misted into the alley. The vamp was already drinking, and he'd get enough in only a matter of seconds; he'd already had sex with the girl. His back was conveniently turned to the street to keep any stray humans from seeing what he was doing. I called out to Joey.
Now, Joey!
Joey whipped around the corner, claws and fangs out just as I'd requested, and he was faster than even I thought possible. He slashed through the neck of our rogue with a single pass, too, and then stood to the side while the girl slumped to the ground, unconscious. I worked at becoming corporeal.
Joey was still standing there, staring as his handiwork flaked away, turning to a dark ash. I knelt and healed the bite marks on the girl's neck, licking them lightly. I hated doing that, but Joey still had a stunned look on his face, so I didn't want to ask him. Lifting the girl, I headed out of the alley. She'd need medical attention, so we had to do our best to see that she got it. "Come, Joey," I said. He followed like a robot.
I placed compulsion on the proprietor of an all-night convenience store to call an ambulance after Joey and I left, and removed the memory that we'd been there to begin with. I hoped the girl would live; she'd lost a lot of blood and wasn't looking good, but we'd done what we could. Joey was still in shock, I could tell. I steered him into a bar after a while.
"Joey, you did well. Is that your first kill?"
He could only nod at my question. I sat back in my seat and looked at him, then glanced around the room, finding a likely candidate. He wasn't ugly and was quite drunk—both things advantageous for my purposes. "Follow me, Joey," I said, and he was right behind me when I walked up to the drunk at the bar. I laid compulsion and led the man outside, Joey still behind me. We found a shadowy corner nearby, and I pushed the man toward Joey.
"Drink," I said. Joey looked at me as if I'd lost my mind.
"You just killed someone. You need this," I jerked my head at the man, who was only too willing to stand there, blank-eyed and empty-minded.
"Adam, I don't like to do this," Joey moaned.
"Look, this is the only way we can get drunk. You know that. Drink. I'll stop you when you've had enough." Joey looked at me in surprise. He reluctantly bent his head to the man's neck. I didn't have to stop him; he was able to do that for himself, and I sent the man back into the bar with compulsion afterward. He would be weak tomorrow, with a hell of a hangover.
Joey was wobbling, now; the man had been drunker than I thought. I lifted Joey into a fireman's carry and hauled him off to my apartment.
I own the building where I live, and made alterations to suit me when I moved in. The penthouse was mine; it was alarmed and secure, and all the windows bricked over. I put Joey down on the sofa; he was blithely singing nonsense, so I ignored him. I made the call to Stephan first; this had been his target, after all.
"Stephan, here," came the curt answer on the third ring.
"Where's your target, Stephan?"
"Somewhere in London, I think. I'm here, now, but I can't get a handle on him yet."
"Well, stop trying. He's dead."
"You got him?" Stephan didn't sound surprised.
"Yes. Less than two hours ago, actually. Let the Council know."
"All right." Stephan hung up. I'd called his cell; he almost always carried it.
"Do vampires get hangovers?" Joey's words were slurred as I walked past him to get to my bedroom. I needed to pack again.
"No, Joey. They just stay drunk for a bit, then it's business as usual."
"Oh. Too bad. I was having a flashback to my undergrad days."
"And that was only five years ago?"
"Yeah."
"Do you want to go home and pack, or do you want to stay here? We can buy clothing for
you in New York." Dawn was about two hours away, which left little time for Joey to do anything except sleep off his inebriation.
"I'll stay here." Joey waved an arm in a grand gesture. "That was cool, Adam, watching you turn to mist."
"Yes. I'm sure it was."
"Too bad it takes so long."
"Yes." I was in total agreement with that. Turning to mist was a means for stealth only. It allowed us to spy on just about anyone, but not to make a kill—we were vulnerable during the changing. I finished packing, made a few more calls and prepared for bed. At least we'd accomplished one thing tonight, but were no closer to our original quarry.
* * *
"Merrill, I have an idea."
"What's that, brother?"
"I'm not allowed to interfere."
"I know that. You've hammered that into my head often enough over the centuries."
"But I am allowed to protect myself."
"Also aware of that, brother."
"What if I disguise myself as you?"
Merrill sat in thought for a very long time. "This has possibilities," he admitted, smiling widely.
* * *
Monday, April 12th
The flight was uneventful, and Joey was playing with his seat belt during our trip. Neither of us bothered to buckle up. He was still wearing the same clothing from the night before; we'd find him something when we landed. I had a safe house lined up, one I'd used several times before and on a nicer scale than the one in Memphis, although it was housed in the basement of a high rise that the Council owned.
After buying two outfits for Joey, a cab dropped us off at an address nearby. Joey and I walked three blocks to get to the warehouse. I had a key, which got us through the outer door, then punched a series of numbers into a keypad inside. A steel wall slid aside, revealing the "safe" portion of the place. A button on the inside closed the door behind us. Joey was happy the moment he walked into the place. A big screen television with cable took up one wall. A computer was also provided. Joey was in heaven. He flipped the television on and surfed through movie channels, finding something he wanted to watch. I left him to it.
* * *
Other Worldly Ways (Anthology 1) Page 6
