Page 13 of Countdown to Murder
Mira worked the second floor with me like a seasoned pro, clearing room after room and helping me make sure one of us was always set so it would be hard for the vampire to move into an area we’d already cleared. Not impossible, because they can move crazy fast, but difficult, because we’d smell him. I also set a few laser motion detectors as we moved through. Standard motion sensors don’t always pick up on something that moves so fast human eyesight can’t see it, but a broken laser stream will always trigger.
When we finished, I engaged my mic and said, “Second floor, clear. Heading up.”
Sloan had already announced the third floor was clear. Mira and I made our way up the steps, and I nodded to Ella MacKenna in the flesh. I scented fear and anger, and hoped the anger stayed aimed at the vampire.
“I apologize for asking to do this on your personal floor, but I need to get the lay of the land. I’m going to set up a noise machine. It will make sure electronic devices can’t pick up what’s being said.” And it would make it harder for the vampire to hear us, though he could pick the information out of Miss MacKenna’s head easy enough. I’d just have to be careful about what I shared with her.
“Sloan tells me you’re in charge now?” She’d played the victim a lot on screen — the damsel in distress who must be rescued. Was that why the vampire was attracted to her? Was she helpless because of her beauty? No. Ember was just as beautiful and she could kick ass. Mira’s beauty wasn’t classical, but to me, she was even more striking than the two classical beauties in the room.
I focused on our client. Barefoot. Her toenails and fingernails matched the casual dress she wore. It wasn’t form-fitting, but you could easily see her curves. She was trying to be sexy without looking as if she was trying. Years of gauging people, deciding whether they are a threat or not, had made me consider people in this manner. Miss MacKenna’s body language, scent, and lack of shoes told me she wasn’t going to protect herself from a spider or a mouse, much less an ancient vampire. She’d made a career out of being a victim.
“Yes, ma’am. This is my partner, Mira. Chain of command is me, then Sloan for inside the house. Jones is in charge outside, though he’s following my orders. He’sgood, so I trust him to do his job without a lot of supervision. When I’m asleep, Sloan is in charge. Again, he’ll be following my orders.” I took a breath, walked to her, and sat on a sofa across from her. She was sitting in a huge reading chair, curled up in it with her feet under her and to the side.
“I need to know if you plan to invite someone. I need to know about any neighbors who might see activity and stop by with a pie. I need a ten-minute warning if you intend to go for a walk or run outside on your own property, and an hour warning if you intend to run down the road or in a park. I’m assuming your movement will mostly be limited to the second and third floors. Am I wrong?”
“I can stay on the third floor if you need me to. The cook can send food up, I don’tneedto go downstairs to eat. We have five days until Halloween, and that’s supposedly when this idiot thinks he can kill me. Five days meditating and working out alone won’t kill me, but I won’t be happy if this stretches a sixth day.”
None of us wanted that.
“One final request, ma’am. We’d like to set up an area for you to video chat, so no one will know where you are. I’m assuming you’ll do so with friends and perhaps your agent or director?”
Our tech geeks were making her internet connection seem to come from southern France.
“I’ve already had a video chat with a producer, but he’s never been here so he doesn’t know where I am.”
I nodded. “We have a tan sheet we can put over that chair in the corner,” I nodded towards it, “and we’ll move the picture behind it, so it’s a blank wall. If someone asks where you are, tell them your security team has you in a safehouse. It isn’t entirely untrue, because this house is pretty damned safe, ma’am. I congratulate you on purchasing such an easily defendable home.”
She tilted her head. “You’re trying to put me at ease. Sloan has spent the past week and a half trying to scare me. Why the difference?”
Mira stepped to me and squeezed my arm twice, and I rethought what I was about to say and reconsidered the attic. Supposedly, it was sealed off, but we should make certain.
“I’ll answer your question in a moment, ma’am.”
I stepped to the back of the five-thousand-foot bedroom, opened the door to the rear staircase, and made my way to the first floor. I keyed my mic on the way. “Jones. Meet me in the kitchen with three of your men.”
The first floor boasted a huge commercial kitchen, and it was empty when I stepped into it from the stairs. I typed a message using the email client on my phone, and showed him when he arrived.I believe there’s a decent chance he’s in the attic. These steps go up. I don’t want to ask the client for permission and possibly tip the subject off. Be as silent as possible. We go up with weapons drawn, silver ammo.
Everyone kept their feet at the sides of the steps to be silent, but we all knew the vampire could hear our heartbeats and would know we were coming. Those chosen for this op were supposed to have good shielding, but we didn’t know how old this asshole was, or how strong, or how easily he could get past shielding. We all wore a bodycam, to be sure the motherfucker didn’t use his eyes to mesmerize us and then drink from us — once he’s had someone’s blood, he can change memories around no matter how strong the shields.
I caught myself thinking of the vampire as aheagain and reminded myself it could also be a woman. My instincts said it was a male because the target was a beautiful female, but you never really know with the oldest vampires.
The stairs ended. Jones turned off the intrusion alarms and sliced through the plastic used to seal the attic off. We climbed the last few steps and walked into the large space.
The ceiling was tall and arched. Some studs had been put in where walls might eventually go, and there were support beams, but for the most part, we could see the entire attic. I motioned for everyone to spread out to our left. We walked to the end wall, and I staggered us all evenly and motioned for everyone to walk the length of the attic. A third of the way through, I saw a blur of a shadow and a window opened. He’d been here, but he was gone, and he’d somehow masked his scent.
I looked out the window but didn’t order anyone to attempt to follow him. No need to try to chase a flying vampire. The client was protected. I’d left plenty of people with her.
I opted to keep holding my weapon rather than put it away. “Motherfucker’s fast. We need motion sensors and high-speed cams up here.” I looked at the hole we came up, not even a railing around it to keep someone from stepping off the wrong side. “I don’t suppose there’s any lumber here? I’d love to seal this hole off with something more substantial than plastic.”
“There’s a workshop off the garage with some stored lumber,” Jones told me.
“Let’s go talk to the client.”
A door had kept her from seeing us as we passed her bedroom floor on the way up. I opened it now, and the five of us trooped in. She didn’t look happy, but I started talking before she could protest the number of people in her private area.
“He was in the attic. He went out a window before we could get to him. I thought he was wearing a cape, but we have reason to believe it was some kind of glider-suit.” We had to explain how he went out a window without crashing to his death. “The grounds people are looking, but this guy is smart, and I don’t have high hopes it’s going to be so simple. He may have had a way to glide his way off the property, and he could’ve glided onto the roof fromsomewhere higher on the mountain. You have window sensors on the first-floor windows. We’ll be installing them on every window in the house. I’ll also place temporary motion sensors in as many rooms as possible. I’ll need to walk the house with you and figure out which rooms aren’t likely to be used in the next six days.”
Everyone except the client heard an abbreviated scream somewhere below us. I nodded for Jones to take his people and go, and I closed the door behind him.
