Out of the Night hn-170

by Trish Milburn

  “Me, the neighbor who couldn’t keep his or her mouth shut, any vamp who has ever drained a human. Frankly, whoever is behind these kidnappings. It’s not just one thing, though it seems that way.”

  “Maybe not, but I was the tipping point.”

  “And I wouldn’t have done anything differently.”

  He shook his head slowly. “How can you say that? It’s hard enough to get by now without having someone like me torpedo your business. Not to mention how your best friend feels.”

  “I’ll manage. I always do. I might not be a vampire, but I can be a tough cookie when I set my mind to it.”

  He smoothed her hair away from her face and let his fingers travel along the edge of her cheek. “I know. I saw that fight in you the first time we met.” When he’d almost killed her.

  Campbell pulled Olivia close and kissed her. He knew he should leave, figure out some way to make things right, but his need for her overpowered any other thoughts.

  “Make love to me,” she said in his ear.

  “My pleasure.” He lifted her effortlessly in his arms and carried her to the bedroom.

  * * *

  The dip of the bed woke Olivia. She fought off the disorientation of sleep in time to see Campbell stand and pull his pants over long legs and lean hips.

  “You’re leaving?”

  He didn’t turn toward her. “I have an appointment at the blood bank.”

  “You’re hungry?” Despite how she felt about him, the idea of his vampire hunger still stoked fear in the deepest part of her.

  “Yes. I don’t like it when I start to think of your blood too much.”

  She didn’t like that thought either. Instead she focused on the play of his back muscles as he slipped his T-shirt on. She resisted the urge to ask him when she’d see him again, partly because she didn’t like clingy women and didn’t want to be one. But she had to admit to herself that it was mostly because she didn’t want to give him the opportunity to say, “Never.”

  When she tossed off the comforter, he turned toward her.

  “No, don’t get up. Go back to sleep.”

  Unease stirred inside her, but she didn’t voice it. He leaned over and kissed her forehead, and she became acutely aware of the distance between them.

  “I shouldn’t have told you,” she said.

  “Told me what?”

  “About the loss of customers.”

  He stood and slipped on the jacket he didn’t need. “I’m not leaving because of that. I’ve just got a lot to do.” He smiled. “Guy’s got to work for a living.”

  Sadness settled in her chest. Though everything he said was true, she knew there was more to it. At least some part of Campbell was running away from her, whether he realized it or not.

  * * *

  As Campbell drank bagged blood at the blood bank a few minutes later, he berated himself for getting so involved in Olivia’s life. Not only was he a constant danger to her, as his yearning for her blood tonight proved, but now he’d also endangered her livelihood. And Mindy’s. But evidently he was a selfish bastard, because he still didn’t think he could stay away forever. Not even close to forever. But he had to figure out how to make things right.

  But how was he supposed to undo this damage? He couldn’t make someone unsee him, couldn’t contact all her customers and tell them he posed no threat and would stay away.

  After his feeding and then a fruitless questioning pass through Little Italy, he headed home. When he walked through the door, Travis looked up from his desk.

  “Good news,” Travis said. “Olivia’s car has been located in Connecticut.”

  Campbell headed toward his own desk with a nod and a sound of acknowledgment.

  “And the award for least excitement goes to...” Travis said. “What’s eating you?”

  “Olivia’s customers have deserted her diner. Guess whose fault that is.”

  Travis adopted a chastised expression. “Sorry.”

  Campbell ran his hand back through his hair. “And I have no idea how to fix it.”

  “That’s easy,” Kaja said as she walked over from the kitchen with a new mug, this one with a big curly K on it. “Buy a big honking ad in the Times for her. Replace the old customers with new ones.”

  Kaja took a drink and sat down at her computer. Instead of work, however, she started playing “Farmville.” For the life of him, he couldn’t imagine what her fascination with that game was.

  He thought about what she said. Maybe an ad would help. Couldn’t hurt.

  “I just emailed you the details about where to pick up Olivia’s car,” Travis said.

  “I need you to do it.”

  “Me?”

  “Yeah.” Campbell didn’t use a tone that invited argument, and Travis didn’t give him any.

  “Fine, whatever.”

  Len, Colin and Sophia came in from patrolling with only a couple of minutes to spare. Billy rolled in on his skateboard a few seconds later.

  “Look who’s cutting it close now,” Campbell said as he met Colin’s eyes.

  “One of those nights,” Colin said.

  “Yeah, if we were werewolves, I’d swear it was a full moon with the way things were going down,” Len added. “Fights, more than the usual amount of angry stares coming our way. Some weird vibe in the air.”

  “At least one of us had a good night,” Colin said as he glanced at Billy. “I think Puppy here found himself a skater-geek girlfriend.”

  Billy skated by Colin and bopped him on the head. “At least I’m getting some action, old man.”

  “Don’t listen to him, Billy,” Sophia said. “I think she’s cute.”

  “Thank you.” Billy paused to kiss her on the cheek before pushing off on his skateboard again.

  Thumping from the street level drew their attention, then the sound of something coming down the drop chute. Campbell was sitting closest to the chute, so he headed for it. “Did anyone put in another order with Chloe?” he asked.

  He heard the chorus of noes at the same moment he saw what had been dropped down the chute. He spun and pointed toward the back corner. “Get out!”

  They almost made it.

  * * *

  Olivia considered not even opening the diner. She didn’t know if she could face another disheartening day of empty tables and the lack of friendly faces.

  She remembered how she’d told Campbell she was a tough cookie, however, so she forced herself downstairs. Whatever the day dished up, she’d deal with it.

  She was glad to see Jane a few minutes later, her first and perhaps only customer of the day.

  “Something must be on fire,” Jane said as she walked in. “I heard a bunch of sirens, and there’s a big black plume of smoke coming from somewhere up near the park.”

  Olivia turned on the TV mounted on the wall. A reporter was on the scene with fire trucks behind her.

  “Officials say it appears a bomb has gone off at a vampire-owned building on the east side of Central Park. It is unclear if any vampires were in the building at the time of the bombing, which happened just after daybreak.”

  A bad feeling started growing in Olivia’s middle. After taking Jane’s order, she retreated to the kitchen. She grabbed her cell phone and dialed Campbell’s number. Her pulse raced faster with each unanswered ring. After his phone rang a dozen times, she hung up and dialed Chloe with shaky fingers.

  When she got voice mail, she realized how early it was. She hung up and dialed Chloe’s cell phone.

  “Hello.” The normal pep in Chloe’s voice was absent.

  “Chloe, it’s Olivia. Where is the V Force headquarters? Where does Campbell live?”

  Chloe didn’t answer, and tears popped into Olivia’s eyes.

  “Tell me it’s not what’s on the news.”

  “I’m sorry, Olivia.”

  Olivia made an anguished sound. No, not again. She refused to believe it, not unless she saw it for herself. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.” />
  “No, don’t.” Chloe paused for a moment, and Olivia gripped the back of a chair to keep standing. “There’s nothing left.”

  * * *

  “Just pull it out,” Campbell told Len as they sat in the old subway tunnel, dust from the explosion thick in the air. But when Len did exactly that, pulling a large shard of metal from Campbell’s back, he couldn’t hold in the yelp of pain.

  Sophia was ready with a wad of white cloth that he thought was the long-sleeved shirt Len had been wearing over a gray henley. As soon as the metal was free, she pressed it against the wound, stemming the flow of blood until Campbell’s body could begin to heal.

  Colin walked toward them with his tee shoved against a wound on the side of his head. Blood streaked his bare chest. “What the hell happened back there?”

  “It was a bomb.” Which they’d thankfully survived, along with the daylight, by picking themselves out from under the rubble and escaping through the emergency exit that led to the network of abandoned subway tunnels. He counted heads and came up one short. “Where’s Billy?”

  They all stared at each other for a horrible moment, then started digging frantically at the rubble that filled the passage that connected their headquarters with the subway tunnels. “Billy!” several voices called out at once.

  “Puppy? Come on, kid,” Colin said as he tossed huge chunks of concrete out of the way.

  Campbell winced with the pain in his back but dug nonetheless. Dug despite the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He found Billy and wished he could hide the boy’s body from the rest of the team. But it was too late.

  Sophia cried out, “No!” and took Billy’s lifeless hand in hers.

  The irony was Billy didn’t seem any more damaged than the rest of them. It was the large shard of his skateboard through the middle of his heart that had sealed his fate. Curses and crying met Campbell’s ears, but all he could do was stare as a cold numbness filled him.

  After the initial shock, Colin and Len stepped forward and together with Campbell they finished digging Billy out. Kaja reached over and closed Billy’s eyes and caressed his pale cheek.

  “I’m going to kill whoever did this,” Campbell said. “And he’s going to die slow.”

  “Why the hell did a bomb end up down our delivery chute?” Colin asked.

  “Someone wanted to deliver a message,” Len said.

  “That we’re getting close and they don’t like us sniffing around,” Campbell added.

  “That creep Salmeri?” Kaja asked.

  “That’s where I’d lay my money,” Campbell said, focusing on his job, on avenging Billy’s death.

  “Told you to let me rip his throat out,” she said.

  “After I’m through with him, if there’s anything left, you can be my guest,” Campbell said.

  Travis stared back at the pile of rubble. “We’ve lost everything.”

  Campbell looked around at his dirty, bleeding, bedraggled team. Time to be the leader. “We’re going to get whoever did this. And we’ll rebuild somewhere else.”

  “Perhaps I can help you with that.”

  They all turned toward the new voice, ready to fight. A man in khakis and an expensive leather jacket stepped into the faint glow shed by the emergency light on the subway-tunnel wall.

  “Who are you?” Colin asked as he pointed a piece of rebar at the unknown vamp. “And don’t take a step farther.”

  Campbell moved to the front of his team. He placed his hand on Colin’s arm, applying downward pressure so he’d lower his weapon. When Colin did so, the guy took a couple more steps toward them.

  “I’m Raymond Pierce.”

  “Raymond Pierce?” Colin said.

  “Yes, that one,” Pierce said.

  Pierce had owned more companies than Campbell could name a decade ago. As rich as Richard Branson, Bill Gates and the entire Walton family put together. So he was dead, as the news had claimed, but not gone.

  “How did you know we were here?” Colin asked.

  “Baroness Flanders is a good friend. When she heard about the bombing, she asked that I come offer my assistance. You are in need of a new home, are you not? As it happens, I have just the place. If you all feel up to a bit of a walk, I can show you what we can offer.”

  “We—” Sophia started but choked on a sob.

  Len gripped her shoulder in support and nodded toward Billy’s body. “We lost a member of our team.”

  “A friend,” Kaja said, her voice sounding shaky, too.

  “I’m very sorry,” Pierce said. “We can take care of him once we get to our destination. I’ll get you whatever you need.”

  The others looked to Campbell. After a moment of consideration, he nodded. Pierce turned and led them into the darkened tunnel.

  * * *

  Despite Chloe’s assertion that she shouldn’t come, Olivia hadn’t listened. Now she wished she’d stayed away. It felt as though a gaping hole was opening up inside her to match the one in the ground she couldn’t stop staring at.

  Smoke rose in the air from something still burning below street level. The air reeked with the scents of unnamed objects smoldering. She prayed that Campbell and his team were not amid the burning rubble.

  Chloe still had her arm around Olivia’s shoulders. Olivia suspected that if Chloe released her, she’d crumple to the ground. Movement among the crowd of officials beyond the yellow crime-scene tape caught her attention. When a man who looked as if he might be a detective stepped away, she spotted Herbie.

  “Miss DaCosta?”

  Olivia looked to her left and noticed another familiar face. “Officer Cortez.”

  “What are you doing here?” There it was again, the look that said he knew more was going on.

  Trying to think on her feet while her heart was breaking took all her concentration. “I heard about the explosion and wanted to check on a friend.” She pointed to Herbie. “But he looks to be okay.”

  Cortez glanced at Herbie before returning his attention to her. He didn’t say anything, and though she knew it was a tactic to get her to reveal more, she spoke anyway. “I deliver meals to the homeless. I’ve known Herbie and some of the others who spend their days here for several years.”

  Finally, he nodded. “I’ll send him over when he’s finished.”

  “Thank you.”

  Officer Cortez walked away.

  “That man feels like a human lie detector,” Chloe said.

  “Notice I didn’t lie.”

  After a few more minutes, Officer Cortez led Herbie to the tape and held it up so he could pass back to the outside of the barrier it made. He pointed toward Olivia.

  She broke free of her friend and headed for the older man. “Herbie?”

  “Olivia? What are you doing here?” He glanced at the position of the sun. “It’s early for your meal delivery.”

  “Why were the police talking to you?”

  “Because I saw someone toss a package into the bank deposit chute. Only that bank’s been closed since halfway through the virus outbreak.”

  “What did he look like?”

  “I don’t know. He was wearing one of those hoodie things. And he ran away as soon as he dropped the package. Had to be a human, though, because it was already daylight.”

  “What were you doing out here so early? You’re not staying out here at night, are you?”

  “Lord, no, honey. I got a one-day gig cleaning up after a show at Radio City Music Hall. They paid me a little and let me spend the night there.”

  Olivia stared at Herbie, wishing that he knew more. That he could positively identify the bomber. Could assure her that Campbell had somehow escaped.

  “Are you okay?” Herbie asked her. “You look as if all the blood has drained from your face.”

  “She hasn’t been feeling well,” Chloe said as she put her arm around Olivia’s shoulders. “I think I’ll get her home.”

  Olivia didn’t fight her. She had no energy left to do so. As Chlo
e turned her back toward where she’d parked her SUV, neither of them said anything. What could they possibly say to alleviate the yawning ache growing in Olivia’s heart? Tears trickled out of her eyes and ran down her cheeks.

  This was her fault, for caring again. Though she’d not known Campbell that long, the pain his loss left behind felt too much like what had swamped her after Jeremy had died.

  How could Campbell be gone? He was immortal. Why would fate allow such a good man to die not once but twice?

  Chloe got her into the car without her realizing it. She leaned her forehead against the window and watched the streets of New York streak by as Chloe drove. Some part of her knew that they were going back to the diner, but she didn’t want to. She wanted to keep driving, far away from New York and all the bad memories of loss.

  But that wasn’t realistic, was it? Nowhere was safe from death. Not even immortality.

  Chapter 19

  Campbell and the rest of the team followed Pierce as they left the subway tunnels and passed through a thick metal door into what looked like a private corridor. When they reached a set of stairs and Pierce started climbing, Campbell stopped and stared after him.

  Pierce looked back. “Don’t worry that we’re going above ground. I’m a vampire, too, remember?”

  After a bit more hesitation, Campbell and the rest of the team followed. They exited the stairway into an expansive library. Floor-to-ceiling bookcases lined a long wall, and several polished wood tables with comfortable-looking chairs filled the middle of the room. Opposite the bookcases was a line of tall windows now covered with thick metal shutters.

  “This is amazing,” Sophia said as she walked forward and trailed her fingers over the top of one of the tables, its surface smooth.

  “It is the least we can do for those among us who try to keep peace. Who fight against the tide of the Soulless.”

  A tide, that was exactly what it felt like sometimes.

  Len, carrying Billy’s body in his arms, was the last one up the stairs.

  Pierce pointed at a door on the opposite side of the room. “The bedrooms are down the hallway to the right. If you want, you can place your friend in the first one until you can make arrangements.”