Red Wolf

by Rebekah Shelton

  ****

  Delilah called the sexton for the cemetery and set up an appointment. She explained she was a private investigator working on the break-ins of the crypts. An hour later the Boone and Delilah were walking from crypt to crypt looking for any clues which would help them solve the mystery. “Too many scents,” Boone revealed. “The cops really stunk up the place.”

  “Concentrate on crypts with just one or two scents. Maybe they cased their next job while they were here.”

  “Good idea. Let’s try this again,” Boone agreed.

  Boone found two other crypts which had a distinct scent. “Two tombs on opposite sides of the cemetery with the same scent,” he announced. “It is a strange smell, though. Not human.”

  “Are you saying a supernatural is behind these thefts?”

  “Let’s look at what the crypts have in common. All five of them,” Boone suggested. “There is some kind of connection.”

  Delilah and Boone went back to the plundered crypts and took photos of the names and dates. Then they photographed the two which had not yet been burglarized. “Let’s get out of here,” Delilah insisted when they were done. “Even in the daylight, this place is damn creepy.”

  Boone nodded in agreement and the two headed back to the front gate as fast as they could. They locked the gate and made their way back to their hotel. Boone downloaded the photos onto his tablet, and the two looked at the pictures side by side.

  “All died during the Civil War,” Boone announced looking at the dates. “I am not much of a history buff, but some pretty rich folks were living in this area back then.”

  “And there was a sizable population of vampires here as well,” Delilah added. Delilah had grown up just north of New Orleans. She knew the history of the area quite well.

  “If I were a gambling man, I would say the two were related,” Boone speculated.

  “Like old vamps or half-vamps looting the graves of their ancestors?” Delilah suggested.

  “Maybe someone is robbing their own grave,” Boone deduced. “It would be a perfect place to hide artifacts, gold, money, jewels. Then come back two centuries later and clean out your own crypt.”

  “But why just two scents while there are five graves?” Delilah wondered aloud.

  “Good question. Let’s look up the names and see if there is a connection,” Boone suggested opening the tablet’s browser. One by one, Boone plugged the names into the search engine. He searched for any ancestral connection between the five graves. He found none. “The only thing linking them in any way was their jobs. All worked on ships or in the shipyards.”

  “So maybe there were two vampires and three humans and the vamps hid part of the loot in the other graves?”

  “It is a possibility. But how do we go to the authorities and tell them our theory? First, they would laugh us out of town and second, they would laugh us out of the city with no pay.”

  “Still fucked,” Delilah exclaimed. “So what should we do?”

  “Not sure about you but I need a tall cold one.”

  “Make it two.”

  “I was going for a beer,” Boone replied looking at Delilah strangely, his eyes narrow.

  “I could go for a beer,” Delilah quipped. “The wine selection in this town sucks.”

  “Let’s head for the hotel bar,” Boone announced offering Delilah, his hand. “And then maybe a tour of the city during the daylight.”

  Minutes later, the two were entering the hotel bar. Delilah found a booth while Boone placed their drink order. While still early afternoon the bar was already half full of tourists. The bars and clubs in New Orleans did have the reputation of being open twenty-three hours a day; closing just long enough to clean and then reopen. While bright daylight covered the city, the bar was barely lit providing anonymity to the tourists and the locals alike who wanted a tall, cold adult beverage regardless of the time of day.

  Boone slid into the booth across from Delilah. Delilah held up her beer towards Boone as to toast. “Here's to a failed case and an empty pocket,” she laughed. “I am really sorry Boone.”

  “We will get better at this. We normally have an eight by ten glossy of the asshole we are hunting. But no more New Orleans trips. This place creeps me out.”

  “Agreed,” Delilah laughed and took a long draw on the beer. “This ain’t bad. It will not be my favorite poison, but I am sure I will get a sufficient buzz. And God knows I could use a good buzz about now.”

  Boone and Delilah sat silently. They had barely finished half of their beer when the side door to the lounge opened from the street, and a cool breeze entered with a group of tourists. Boone’s head jerked up suddenly. “What is it?” Delilah exclaimed in a hushed whisper. She knew something was wrong. She knew that expression well.

  “I smell them. They are here.”

  “Who is here?”

  “The two from the cemetery,” Boone whispered while searching the dark room for the source of the scents. “Over there. In the corner.”

  Delilah waited a few minutes and then glanced behind her. In a corner booth were two men staring at her and Boone. Both were wearing dark colored jeans, black shirts, and black jackets. “I see them. They are not human by any means. They are definitely vampires.”

  “Do you think they are looking for us?” Boone asked somewhat alarmed they were now the hunted and not the hunters. His eyes clearly showed his fear. He knew he could defend himself and Delilah in public against humans. He wasn't sure if he would win against a vampire or two. He knew nothing about them or how to fight them.

  “We need to go back to the room,” Delilah suggested with a sense of urgency. She wanted to run away and fast.

  “We are probably safer in public,” Boone rebutted. “There are too many witnesses here. Just drink slowly. We need to keep our wits about us.”

  Delilah knew more about vampires than she had revealed to Boone. She knew they were in great danger. “I am scared, Hooxei.”

  “I guess they figured out we were tracking them, and they picked up our scents in the process,” Boone deduced.

  “But they do not know we were not going to go to the authorities with what we suspected,” Delilah whispered, her lip quivering. “Regardless of the pay, we nonhumans have to stick together.”

  “This could get complicated. We will think of something. Give me your hand Angel. I promise to keep you safe.”

  “From your lips to Daddy’s ears,” Delilah stated for the second time that day as she reached across the table and put her hand into Boone’s. Delilah’s pale icy blue eyes were starting to darken. Tears were welling faster than she could blink them away. She squeezed Boone’s hand as if her life depended on it. And she believed it did.

  “Come sit by me,” Boone whispered and glanced at the space between him and the wall. Delilah nodded and smiled nervously. Both readied themselves to stand so Delilah could be shielded by Boone. But before they moved one single inch, the two darkly clothed vampires were standing at their table, blocking their movement.

  “Going somewhere?” Vampire number one sneered through his fangs and his hooded black and red eyes.

  “May we join you?” Vampire number two asked rhetorically. Of course, saying no was clearly not an option.

  Both vampires slid into the booth and formidably blocked Delilah and Boone in the small space. Neither of them had a way to escape. Delilah squeezed Boone’s hand again, and silent tears started down her cheeks. “Oh Daddy,” Delilah sighed as if she was begging him to save her. And she was.

  Boone stared into Delilah’s eyes and silently called for Delilah’s daddy as well, whoever he was. Even Boone knew they needed some kind of divine intervention if they were going escape the situation unscathed or at least alive.

  “I like this one,” Vampire number one cooed as he gave Delilah a lusty and perverted twice over. Delilah shuddered as she watched his eyes gaze upon her neck. It
gave her goosebumps all over her body.

  “Joseph,” Vampire number two warned. “You do not want her for dinner.”

  “But I bet she is mighty sweet, Paul,” Joseph leered as he reached over and wiped one of Delilah’s tears off her cheek and placed it onto his tongue. Tasting the droplet, Joseph moaned as if in ecstasy, “Mighty damn sweet.”

  Delilah was about to come out of her skin. Boone was about to come across the table and attack the vampire named Joseph. But Paul stopped him. “Down wolfman,” Paul snarled. “While I normally do not do big and hairy, I could make an exception.”

  “What do you want?” Boone growled.

  “To be left alone,” Joseph replied and baring his one-inch vampire fangs.

  “Same here,” Boone growled a bit louder and deeper, his wolf growl coming through.

  “You have been snooping where you should not be.”

  “And we know better than to go to the authorities,” Delilah replied still fighting back her tears. “We weren’t going to tell anyone.”

  “Why should we believe you?” Joseph sneered staring at Delilah as if she would be the tastiest meal he would ever consume.

  “She is off-limits unless you want the fury of her sisters to rain down on the city,” Paul warned his partner, seeing the wanton look of desire on his lips and tongue. "However, the wolf is fair game."

  “She might be worth it, though,” Joseph snickered. “Just one little taste.”

  Delilah fought the urge to scream as Joseph pierced her palm with his pointy nail. As her blood rose to the surface, Joseph raised her hand to his face. First, he inhaled her scent, and then he licked the blood. “Damn, she really is sweet. Like honey and wine. I would die happy if she were my last meal. She would be worth it.”

  Boone started across the table. “Leave her alone,” Boone growled. The growl came from deep in his throat nearly echoing through the room. His eyes showed he was three point two seconds from turning wolf in public and destroying both Joseph and Paul.

  “Don’t worry wolfman,” Joseph laughed. “I plan on living a lot longer than the two of you combined. I just wanted a tiny taste of your little princess.”

  “I am nobody’s princess,” Delilah snapped. Her trepidation was about to explode around her.

  “Yes, you are, baby girl,” a soft but booming voice declared.

  Delilah looked up in surprise recognizing the voice. “Daddy,” Delilah smiled like a little girl, her eyes filled with glee and relief.

  “Boys, I think you have overstepped your bounds. Come with me,” the man announced.

  Before Boone could blink and focus on the distinguished, white-haired and bearded man standing less than a yard away, Daddy, and the vampires were gone.

  “Damn,” was all Boone was able to mutter. Just as fast as Delilah’s smile had materialized, it was gone. She had hoped to spend at least a few minutes with her father. She had hoped for a hug before he left. It was lucid to Boone that Delilah loved and missed her father. He could clearly see the hurt and disappointment in her eyes.

  Once Boone and Delilah were able to catch their breaths and calm themselves enough to stand, they rushed to their hotel room. Never saying a word, both quickly packed. Within ten minutes, they were rendering payment for their room and ready to leave New Orleans forever.

  It was fifty miles outside Orleans Parish before either could speak of what had happened. “That was your daddy?” Boone asked. Of course, it was the first words out of his mouth. “You could have at least introduced us.”

  Of course, Daddy had left too quickly for introductions, but Delilah did not dwell on his hasty departure. “You should meet my sisters first,” Delilah decided. “Then maybe I will be ready for the rest of the story.”

  Boone acquiesced immediately. Delilah was surprised.

  It was a twenty-two-hour drive back to Red Mountain. For most of the trip, both remained silent. Neither wanted to talk about what had happened. Their first assignment as a team had gone wrong; all wrong. They had not made one red cent off the trip. To be honest, they had lost money. But both were relieved the assignment was over, and they were both still alive. Silently they vowed to themselves never to return to New Orleans. Both had decided the city was nothing but evil; too iniquitous for a second chance. Both knew the city was beyond contrition.

  Boone drove to the top of Raven Hill and dropped off Delilah. He descended the mountain and headed home. Boone entered his house and was surprised at what he saw. Someone had left him two boxes of cereal; a box of Count Chocula and a box of Boo Berry. He laughed. At least he would have breakfast for a few days.