“Did you check these results with anyone else?”
“I wasn’t allowed to. Once Roach heard about this, he ordered me to sit on it.”
“So why are you telling me?”
“I’m a scientist, not a cop. I understand the need to hold certain information from the public. But Roach is trying to ignore this information and deny that it even exists. Since I’m under orders not to investigate this any further, I’m hoping you can.”
“You can’t be serious?”
“I am.” Dekker picked up one of the teeth and dropped it into a glass vial, which he then handed to Jessica. “Get this independently evaluated. Then run down the story until you uncover the truth.”
Jessica took the vial. “But you just said you’ll be in a world of shit when Roach finds out you gave this to me.”
“If Roach finds out I gave you these samples. The press have been all over the crash site. If anyone asks, just say you found it at the scene of the accident and assumed it came from the driver. I’ll catch some flak, but as long as you don’t rat me out I should be fine.”
“You have my word on that.” Jessica slid the vial into her pocket. “I don’t know how I can thank you.”
“Just let me know if you find out who that tooth belongs to.”
“Or what.”
“Yeah.” An uneasy moment passed between the two. Finally, Dekker averted his gaze. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I have to get back to work.”
“No problem. I’ll let myself out. Thanks again.”
As Jessica headed for the door, Dekker returned to the dissection table and took a scalpel from off the tray. Jessica hurried out so she would not have to watch any more of the autopsy.
Bill waited in the corridor, crouched down with his back against the wall. On seeing Jessica, he pushed himself upright. “That didn’t take too long. I guess he didn’t hit on you after all. Or he’s a quick shooter.”
“Very funny. Come on.”
Bill fell in behind Jessica. “Did you get what you came for?”
“Yup.” Jessica reached down and felt the vial through her pocket. She had gotten a lot more than she had hoped for.
* * *
THE MIDNIGHT-BLACK Suburban rolled along the far right lane of Independence Avenue, passing the Air and Space Museum and heading west toward the Potomac. Alison drove. Drake sat in his usual spot in the passenger seat while Jim fidgeted in back. Not that Drake could blame Jim. It was just before seven in the morning, a few minutes before sunrise. They had been on the hunt for almost seven hours and had cruised the Mall twenty times, but with no luck. Which surprised Drake. He hoped tonight had just been a fluke. If the vampires had changed their feeding patterns, it would take months to determine the new ones.
“What do you think, boss?” asked Alison. “The sun’s coming up soon. Should we call it a night?”
“Might as well,” he said reluctantly. “Continue until you hit 17th Street, then let’s head back.”
Alison cruised along for another few hundred yards until they had to stop for the pedestrian walk light in front of the Smithsonian Institute’s Art and Industries Museum. A young Asian couple holding hands started across the street, followed by a jogger, a young woman on a bicycle, and a middle-aged man in a business suit. Seconds later, another figure raced out of the museum’s shadows and into the crosswalk. Stooping over and slightly bowing its head away from the stopped cars, the figure quickened its pace and rushed across the street. Though dressed in a thin brown greatcoat and a black wool cap pulled down over its ears and forehead, the hunters could clearly see the pallid skin of the undead.
Drake leaned forward in his seat, his eyes fixed on the thing. “Alison!”
“Don’t worry, boss. I’m already on it.”
Alison watched the vampire to see in which direction it headed. When the other pedestrians reached the sidewalk, they turned right, except for the Asian couple who turned left and headed back along Independence Avenue. The vampire turned with them, maintaining a discreet distance but still close enough to move in for the kill at any moment. Alison attempted to make a U-turn, but by now the traffic signal had turned green and the oncoming lanes of traffic surged forward, blocking her path. The moment a break in the traffic became available, she spun the steering wheel sharply and gunned the Suburban into a 180-degree turn. By now the driver behind Alison had grown impatient and, in frustration, blared his horn. The commotion attracted attention, and everyone who had crossed the street turned to look, including the vampire. Upon seeing the Suburban, it bowed its head and raced past the Asian couple.
Jim leaned forward. “Are we going to take it down?”
“Not out in the open,” Drake responded. “We’d attract too much attention. We have to wait until it’s isolated.”
“You might get your chance.” Alison pointed toward the vampire as it turned onto 4th Street and broke into a run.
Drake smiled. “Let’s get him.”
Alison swung onto 4th Street and accelerated. The vampire was already a block down the street. Alison gave chase. Just as they were about to overtake it, the vampire veered off into the slanted driveway of an underground parking garage, ran down the ramp, and disappeared around the corner. Alison overshot the driveway. Shifting into reverse, she backed up a few feet, and drove the Suburban down the ramp.
“Stop here,” ordered Drake as they entered the garage.
Alison shifted the Suburban into park. Drake and Jim got out and moved around to the front of the vehicle, each looking around for the vampire. Off to the left and recessed about ten feet back from the main wall sat a foyer. The foyer housed a single elevator and, surrounding the outer wall of the shaft, a staircase leading down. With multiple levels to the garage and a score of vehicles parked on each level, the hunt would favor the prey.
Drake walked around to the driver’s window and leaned in toward Alison. “Pull into one of these empty spaces, but keep the engine running. If the snuffy slips past us and tries to escape, take it down. We’ll call you if we get into trouble.”
“Which should be in about two minutes,” Alison said through a flirtatious grin.
As Alison backed the Suburban into an empty space opposite the exit ramp, Drake stepped over to Jim. He pulled a pair of stakes from the pouch inside his leather jacket, holding one in his right hand by the hilt so his forearm partially hid it. He passed the other one to Jim.
Jim took the stake and looked at it tentatively. “What’s this?”
“A wooden stake. Very effective for killing vampires.”
“No shit. Why are you giving it to me? I thought I was tech support?”
“You just got promoted.” Jim started to complain, but Drake held up a hand to cut him off. “I need someone to cover my ass, and you drew the short straw. Of course, if you’d rather go down there without a weapon.”
“Point taken.” Jim held up the business end of the stake and grinned.
Drake shook his head and led the way into the garage.
Both men slowly walked down the center of the ramp, Jim six feet behind and to the left of Drake. Drake listened for any sound and watched for any movement that might betray the vampire’s whereabouts, but heard or saw nothing unusual. Just the whir from a series of exhaust fans and the dripping from a leaky water pipe. Ten feet beyond the foyer, a large sewer rat bolted out from under a parked Nissan and scurried across the cement. Startled, Jim jumped back and took a battle stance, then let out an embarrassed sigh when he realized it was only a rat.
At the turn onto the second level, Drake crouched to scan underneath each vehicle for their quarry. Nothing. Climbing back to his feet, Drake continued down the garage and turned the corner onto the third level.
Drake and Jim had just passed the elevator on the third level when they heard a commotion behind them. Drake spun around in time to see the vampire drop down from the ceiling where it had been hiding amongst the steam and water pipes. It hit the cement with a dull thud. Raising i
ts head, the thing snarled at the hunters through clenched fangs. Before Drake or Jim could react, it bolted for the stairs and raced down to the lower levels.
Drake slapped Jim on the shoulder and pointed to the ramp leading down. “I’m going to take the stairs. You go that way and make sure it doesn’t try to backtrack on us.”
Before Jim could answer, Drake raced off after the vampire. Jim turned and ran down the ramp.
Drake pressed his back against the outer wall of the stairwell as he descended, slowing briefly on each landing to peer around the corner. He reached the bottom of the stairs just as Jim rounded the corner onto the lower level. The vampire crouched in the middle of the foyer, its gaze alternating between the two hunters. Drake cautiously approached the thing, waiting for it to attempt to escape. Yet it did not attack or try to run. It crouched there, watching each of them in turn. Drake and Jim closed in slowly from either side, stakes at the ready.
Only when they were a few yards from the vampire did a deep, gruff voice emerge from the shadows. “Hey, hunter. Maybe you’d rather take a crack at me instead?”
Drake turned around, his eyes widening in amazement at the behemoth that emerged from the shadowy corner of the foyer. It looked like a Hell’s Angel member straight from hell itself. The thing weighed well over three hundred pounds and stood over six feet tall, with biceps as large as Drake’s thighs. A more than ample chest and beer belly strained against a blood-stained T-shirt and black leather vest emblazoned with the Harley Davidson logo. The pallid coloring and stench of decay, as well as the ragged open wound in its neck, designated it as a vampire. As it approached, the first vampire crouched and scurried away, slipping past Drake and heading for the stairwell. Drake ignored the first vampire, concentrating instead on the more dangerous threat. The biker vampire stood in front of Drake and puffed out its chest in defiance, all the while glaring down at the hunter.
Jim stepped up beside Drake. “I think you’re going to need a bigger stake.”
Lunging toward the vampire, Drake plunged the stake into its chest. The wood made a dull thud against the thick chest. Nothing happened. The vampire grinned, exposing a pair of yellow fangs.
“You’re definitely going to need a bigger stake,” said Jim.
Drake punched the hilt of the stake, driving it further into the vampire’s chest and bruising his knuckles in the process. Still nothing. As Drake massaged his hand, the vampire looked down at the stake with the same disdain someone would show for a bug. Grabbing the hilt, it pulled the stake from its chest and threw it away. The vampire’s grin spread into an evil smile. A cold meaty hand shot out, grasping Drake by the front of his neck and digging its fingers into the skin, lifting him nearly a foot of the ground. Drake felt his windpipe being closed and fought back the urge to panic.
“Alison!” Jim called into his radio. “Lower level! By the elevator! We need help!”
“On my way.”
Jim did not hear the response. Pulling a crucifix from under his jacket, Jim lunged at the vampire from its left, his arm outstretched, the crucifix brandished in a hand shaking from fear. Turning its head slightly toward the new threat, the vampire leered at Jim, contempt filling its eyes. Using its free hand, the vampire grabbed Jim by the underside of his arm, then twisted up and over. Jim yelped in pain as he was bent over backwards. With Jim off balance, the vampire let go and reached around to grab Jim by the scruff of the neck, then with a push threw Jim face first into the wall. He fell to the floor, unconscious.
In the few seconds it took to knock Jim out of the fight, Drake reached under his jacket and removed two more stakes. Placing one in each hand, he stretched his arms to the sides and pointed the weapons inward. The vampire returned its gaze to Drake, realizing what would happen next, but did not have enough time to react. Drake plunged the stakes toward the vampire’s hand, driving them into each side of its wrists. Howling in pain, the vampire released its grip. Drake fell to the cement, landing hard on his knees. He gasped several times, still struggling for air. Only after several seconds did his windpipe open enough for him to catch a breath.
Using its free hand, the vampire pulled the two stakes from its wrists one by one, dropping each to the ground. It looked at the gaping wounds for a moment, then focused its gaze on Drake. Its lifeless eyes burned with fury. “You’re going to pay for that, hunter.”
Drake started to crawl away from the approaching vampire when the squeal of tires caught his attention. He and the vampire turned to see Alison drive the Suburban onto the lower level, fishtailing around the corner. Instantly sizing up the situation, she steered into the foyer and aimed for the vampire. Drake rolled to the side. The vampire did not move as quickly, and the Suburban slammed into it. The cracking of its legs as the bumper shattered bone combined with the meaty thud of its torso as it smashed against the hood. Its three-hundred-pound body sailed across the foyer and crashed into the elevator doors. Alison braked, and the Suburban skidded to a stop only a few feet from the elevator.
Alison rolled down the passenger side window and leaned over. “The cavalry’s here.”
“In the nick of time, as always.” Drake climbed to his feet and brushed himself off. “Let’s finish that thing off and… Look out!”
Alison turned to the left. Despite two broken legs, the vampire had crawled over to the Suburban and pulled itself up onto the chassis. Hanging onto the roof rack with one hand, it plunged its left hand through the driver’s window. The window disintegrated with a loud pop, showering Alison in shards. She looked away to protect her eyes. Pulling itself halfway into the Suburban, the vampire grabbed Alison by the hair on the right side of her head and drew her toward its gaping mouth. Alison placed her hands on the vampire’s chest and tried to push it away, but the thing was too powerful. She felt the vampire’s drool dripping onto her neck.
With the strength in her arms draining away, Alison reached her right hand into her jacket pocket and withdrew a bottle of holy water. She shoved it into the vampire’s mouth, then using the same hand smashed the thing’s lower jaw into the bottle. The bottle ruptured. A hideous howl emanated from the vampire as the holy water seared its dead flesh. The vampire lowered its head, blood and spittle flowing over its withered lips. Thrashing around, it tried to crawl back out of the Suburban, but Alison would not relinquish the advantage. Grabbing the top of the seatbelt, she wrapped it down and around the thing’s neck. Then, with a rapid tug, she locked the seatbelt in place, and the vampire in the vehicle.
Shifting into reverse and shoving her foot down on the accelerator, Alison backed out of the foyer, spinning the steering wheel to the right so that the Suburban faced the opposite direction. Alison again shifted into drive, pressed down on the accelerator, and raced toward the exit. The vampire hung at the driver’s window, disoriented by the pain in its broken legs and its burning mouth, yet desperately trying to break free from the seatbelt twisted around its neck.
Drake picked up two of the stakes littering the ground and had started to move around the front of the Suburban to attack the vampire when Alison backed out, leaving him behind. He ran after the SUV, but Alison already had pulled away and was heading for the main level. Drake chased them for a few feet before realizing he could not hope to catch them, then ran back to the foyer and headed for the stairs. Jim had regained consciousness and struggled to his feet.
“What happened?”
“We got our ass kicked.” Drake grabbed Jim by the right arm and hurried him toward the stairs. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?”
“To help Alison.”
By now, Alison reached the first level. As she spun the Suburban around the last turn, the exit ramp lay ahead of her, brightly lit by the morning sun. Realizing what was about to happen, the vampire began flailing about frantically and clawing at the seat belt around its neck, tearing at its own flesh. Alison increased speed, turned onto the ramp, and accelerated up the slope. Once on the street, she spun the steering wheel hard
and slammed on the brakes, skidding to a stop so the driver’s side faced east. The brilliant sunlight that flowed down the street washed over the Suburban like a wave.
The sunlight burned the vampire’s skin, which seared off in scorched flecks like embers in a fireplace. The layers of flesh on its back burned away after a few seconds, exposing internal organs that began to shrivel and disintegrate. Arching its back, the vampire bellowed an agonized wail. Decomposition accelerated, with the vampire turning to ash from the inside out. What remained of the thing rapidly crumbled. Its wail died out as its chest and vocal chords turned to dust.
Drake and Jim ran out into the street in time to see the final death throes. As the dusty remains disappeared in a small eddy of wind, Drake raced up to the driver’s window. He reached out and touched Alison’s arm. “Are you okay?”
“Of course,” she answered reassuringly, then brushed the ash off her shoulders and arm. “I’m not the one who comes apart under pressure.”
Drake shook his head in mock frustration, then motioned for Jim to get in. “Let’s get out of here before the police show up.”
“I’m fine with that,” replied Alison. Once everyone had climbed aboard, Alison turned the Suburban around and drove back toward Independence Avenue.
TONI EMERGED FROM THE SHADOWS of the parking garage’s first level where she had watched the battle play out. Beside her stood the vampire who had led the hunters here.
“This is bad, mistress. Not even the big one could stop them.”
“I didn’t want them stopped. I wanted to see how they fight.”
“Did you see enough?”
“Yes.” Toni stepped forward and watched the Suburban drive past the entrance. “The woman is the true hunter of the group. She’s the one we have to eliminate if we want to stop them.”
“Do you want me to take care of her?”
“No.”
The vampire disappeared back into the shadows to remove the manhole cover that would lead them to the sewers and back to their lair. Toni smiled maliciously, revealing her fangs. “I have something special in store for her.”
The Vampire Hunters: Book I of The Vampire Hunters Trilogy Page 9
