The Vampire Files - Bloodlist Part 21

"Sure, he does. I see what you're getting at, but that's not it. Lebredo's got something else on him."

"Maybe it's time you left this place."

"Not now, but soon. I'll leave when I'm ready."

"But-"

Her eyes snapped. "Don't go all protective on me, I can take care of myself."

"Okay, I can see that." She was right, it was none of my business.

"Mrs. Smythe didn't raise no dummy."

"I'm not arguing."

She took me at my word and calmed down. "You going to tell me your life story now?"

"Not tonight."

Her hand went to her throat. "But I want to know about what you did. Is it because you're really different, or that you know something new that I never heard of till now?''

"Yes," I chuckled.

"To both? Don't be a kidder."

"I'm not."

"Then what's this about?"

"You ever hear the one about the one-legged jockey?" "Yeah..."

"Well, I kinda have the same thing. It's a sort of condition-"

The sharp cough of the gun was the only warning we got.

Preoccupied with each other, we hadn't heard his approach in the other room or noticed the light under the door. Perhaps he'd come to check on Bobbi after she'd missed her cue, and then heard us talking. The second after the bullet blew off the lock, he kicked the door open and lurched into the room like a boulder coming down the hill, or maybe I should say mountain. It was Gordy, playing the watchdog for his boss.

He didn't know me in the dim light spilling from Morelli's room, but I was a man in a place where I shouldn't be and that was enough of an excuse for him to break things up. His gun was already up and aimed. I had barely gotten to my feet. I half expected the impact of a bullet, but he thankfully restrained himself and didn't fire again. Bobbi's breath caught in her throat, but she held back the scream. The room was dead quiet except for the squeaking hinges as the door swung a little in the aftershock of its sudden opening.

I raised my hands slowly, uncurling the fingers, tore my eyes from the silencer- encased gun barrel, and stared hard at his face. All his attention was on me. Good, I wanted him to ignore Bobbi altogether. A few seconds had pa.s.sed, and I listened for the arrival of reinforcements, but none came. There was a chance for jumping him then. It was possible despite the distance between us, but there was also a big, bad chance of Bobbi picking up a stray bullet, so that was out.

He finally spoke. "Walk over here, pretty boy."

Better, he wanted me out of the room. I held his eyes with my own and moved slowly, hoping Bobbi would know enough to stay where she was. I didn't speak or look at her; the situation was tenuous enough, and I wanted Gordy to concentrate on me alone. For each step I took forward he backed up into the light of Morelli's bedroom. Bad. I wanted it dark. Pretending to squint, I kept my hands in front of my face. This made it harder to watch his movements, but by now I'd cleared the door and Bobbi was safely out of the line of fire.

He sensed I was planning something. The angle of the gun shifted downward.

"Move and I'll blow your b.a.l.l.s off."

Vampire or not, that kind of threat will stop any man in his tracks.

"Hands away from the face."

There wasn't any choice, I'd have to play it out and see what would happen. I straightened, lowered my hands, and looked him in the eye.

He still didn't know me right away, but then the last time he could consciously recall seeing me I'd been belly-up on a sidewalk, fully clothed and apparently dead.

Now I was shirtless, disheveled, standing, and apparently alive. Small wonder the dawn came slowly.

The lids peeled back from his eyes. I kept very still, staring at him, hoping he was as unnerved as I had been. He took a backward step toward the door and kept on going until he was on the threshold.

"'Run," I whispered.

The idea must have already been in his mind. He flinched, turned, and retreated heavily down the hall.

Bobbi heard it; she was out of bed and peering past me, a few dozen questions on her face. I quickly grabbed up my discarded clothes.

"Whatdid- "I can't explain now." I kissed her good-bye and darted out after Gordy. He was thumping down the backstairs. I pulled on the shirt without b.u.t.toning it and shrugged into the coat, not an easy thing to do while running, but I was able to keep up with him. He reached the bottom, looking indecisive, and turned for a backward glance. I ducked, dematerialized, and followed down after him.

Uncertain of his route, I hung close to his coattails and was able to stick right along with him. He went through a door into an a.s.sault of noise, and I guessed we were in the casino. Here he stopped and caught his breath. Maybe he only wanted people around him. At a more sedate pace he moved through the room and pa.s.sed into a smaller and much quieter area, probably the cloak room.

"Hi, big boy, what's up?" a girl asked him.

He didn't answer, but pushed past her to an even smaller room where the coats were hung. I heard a click and sensed he was working at something with his hands. A little unsteadily, he began repeating a call sign. He was using some kind of short- wave radio and trying to contact the Elvira. I moved in close to hear both sides of the conversation. Unfortunately he began shivering, but it couldn't be helped.

They had a poor connection, and I hardly made out Morelli's voice.

"Yeah, Gordy, did you find out-"

"Boss, he was here, I saw him, I saw the kid."

"You saw him?"

"In your room-he was real, he was alive-"

"Shut up and get out here, I'll have the boat waiting."

"He's still up there with Bobbi-"

"What?""I caught them together, but I had to get out. Jesus, you shoulda seen his eyes."

"You left her?"

"I couldn't help it, I had to."

"Then get your a.s.s back up there and get her out, you hear me? You get her out and bring her to me..."

At this point I left, groping through the back door of the cloakroom and solidifying. The long, dim hall dividing the casino from the club stretched ahead. It gave backstage access to the bandstand and led to the farther of the stairwells. I raced to the far end and had to dissolve again because of two men sitting and smoking on the steps. I re-formed in the upstairs hall, hurtled into Morelli's room, and locked the door. Bobbi had just finished pulling on some clothes.

"Gordy just called Slick about us; he's supposed to take you to the yacht."

"So?"

"So I don't think he's going to throw you a party."

"Don't worry, I know how to handle it. I was more afraid that Gordy was going to shoot you just now.''

"Never mind that, I've got to get you out of here."

"This place is packed with his boys. Tell me how you plan to get past them."

"I want you out of here."

"I know, but I'm staying put. I can handle Slick and I won't split on you."

"Bobbi-"

"If Gordy's coming up you have to leave. Slick won't hurt me, but he'll kill you for sure. I don't care what sort of deal you have going."

Before I could lose my patience, Gordy was banging on the door. He wasn't alone this time.

"Slick's closet-get inside!" She shoved me in the right direction. I felt like I'd wandered onto the stage of a French farce.

"Bobbi, I'm opening the door now," Gordy called.

"Keep your shirt on!" She opened it first.

For form's sake I got in the closet just long enough to vanish and was out again, keeping close to Gordy."Yeah? What is it now?" she demanded. She didn't sound at all like a woman who'd been caught doing something she shouldn't.

"Slick wants to see you. You're going for a boat ride."

She didn't ask why. While she threw on a light jacket, they searched the rooms, then hauled her downstairs to a waiting car. Invisibly, I went with them. She might have known how to handle Slick, but I didn't have her confidence in him. All too well I remembered the guy he'd beaten to a b.l.o.o.d.y pulp with his own gun.

When we got to the docks I had a real check to face, the free running water of the lake. Any and all instincts I had or had recently acquired were sending out emergency alarms, and it took a lot of effort to ignore them. I clung to Gordy like a lamprey as we got into the rowboat. I didn't care how cold it made him.

There were two men to handle the oars, but my presence aboard made it hard work for them, and they were panting from the effort by the time we drew alongside the Elvira. Bobbi was handed aboard, then Gordy followed struggling up the ladder as I hung on. I thought he was going to fall in, but he was very strong and someone lent him an obliging hand and pulled hard. We both lurched onto the deck. The craft was big enough to give me some stability, but my back hairs-if I had any in this form-were still up. The whole yacht, big as it was, had given a shudder as I came aboard.

"Wind must be kicking up," someone remarked.

"I felt that, but there's no wind, that was current."

"Are they here yet?" I heard Morelli's irritated call from a short distance. Gordy moved toward the source, herding Bobbi ahead of him. We went below.

From the size of it, we were in the main cabin. I found an unoccupied corner and settled in to listen. Things were quiet at first, I could imagine Morelli giving Bobbi a good looking over, trying to read her mind.

"Who was he?"

"You know already, Slick, so why play games?"

"You tell me his name."

"It was Fleming, the guy you sent me after the other night."

There was a long silence.

"Well, what's the matter? Didn't you want me to do it? He said you sent him."

"Shut up!" There was another long pause, his voice calmer and colder when he spoke again. "Did you screw him?"

"No." She sounded disappointed and disgusted. "Gordy interrupted things.""Then get out of here. Go to my cabin." There was movement and the door opened and shut.

Morelli sounded tired. "Gordy, tell me what you saw."

Gordy was less excited than when he made his call. "She missed a show so I went to check on things. I heard them through the door and shot it open. He was in bed with her and got out fast. For what it's worth, his pants were still b.u.t.toned. I didn't know who he was at first, but then he came out and I saw it was the Fleming kid."

"Go on."

"I know he was dead on that sidewalk. You saw him. So how does he show up alive now? Is he twins or something?"

"Did you see how he got in?"

"No, and I don't know how he could have got in. Secret pa.s.sages, maybe?"

Morelli's brief and obscene reply shut him up. He must have forgotten about looking for such pa.s.sages only a little while ago himself. "He could have bribed someone, it happens. What did he look like? Was he normal? What was he wearing?"

"Pants and shoes, I didn't see no shirt or hat, but I wasn't - there long."

"What was his face like?"

Gordy didn't understand what he was after. "It was a face, just like we left him, but G.o.d, his eyes- "What about them?"

"I swear, they were red... there was no white showing at all."

"Red? Solid red?"

"I saw him like I see you now. The light was good, better than this. I get the creeps thinking on the way he looked."

"Well, don't," he snapped. They were quiet, then Morelli started again. "Look, I know there's something weird about all this and Fleming, but there's no sense in going chicken about it. We'll stay on the boat for the night after we close the club, then tomorrow we'll really look into everything."

"Sure, boss."

"I'll be in my cabin."

I followed him out. The pa.s.sage was short. He found another door and went through. I found another corner near to, but not quite touching, Bobbi, who was sitting on the bed. *Well?" he said.Well what?"

"Gordy saw you two together."

"Being together doesn't mean we slept together."