Page 57 of The Vanishing
“Hit him hard and fast?”
“Yes,” Haruka says, “but with precision. I have never studied the brain in such detail—just a general, overarching comprehension. Knowing exactly where I needed to strike Lajos was paramount. The brain is infinitely complex, and even with my research, understanding the origin of his power within his mind was difficult. So I made suppositions.”
“You supposed correctly.” Nino smiles. “You’re amazing. My hero.”
Haruka leans in, pressing a soft peck on his lips. “Any goodness in me is a direct reflection of you.”
Nino’s smile broadens, the inevitable warmth rushing to his cheeks. “Charmer…”
“Did you speak with Giovanni?”
“Oh yeah—shit!” Nino blinks. “He got ahold of the detective and she’s planning to catch the next flight out. She also said she’ll have the local police take him into custody, so we don’t have to sit here and watch him until she arrives. I’ll honestly feel better when he’s not underneath our noses like this anymore… and maybe I can finally start working again soon.”
“Should we consider your permanently working from within the estate? There are many methods for conducting business remotely now. You do not need to travel so far, and your clients could come here if needed.”
“I… I don’t know why I would need to do that?”
“To ensure your safety.”
“Well, technically… I was vanished while I was at home, so—”
“That willneverhappen again. I will do everything in my power to make certain.”
“Haru…” Nino sighs, rubbing his palm against his forehead and wondering if they’ll ever get back to normal, or if this constant state of paranoia is their new standard of living.God, I hope not…
“You hope not, what?” Haruka asks.
Nino’s eyes widen. “You heard that? I—I wasn’t trying to communicate to you directly…”
“I did. I sense that you’re upset about something?”
“No, well… I’m alright…” Nino runs his fingers into the top of his hair, but his mate eyes him suspiciously.
Twenty-Six
It took Detective Anika Cuevas a full week to arrive in Kurashiki from New York. Haruka had needed to visit the local police station once to check on Lajos. The old vampire had roused, but this time his speech was incoherent and his movements jerky. He was groaning and lying on the floor—more of a nuisance to the station staff than an actual threat.
“Alright, so tell me more about this place—where you vanished to.” Detective Cuevas sits in the front tearoom of the estate, perched on the edge of the small couch opposite Nino and Haruka. She is full figured in her sharp gray suit, a blue-striped button-down shirt underneath. Her soft features are complemented by the short, curly haircut framing her face.
“I was in an old house, inside a dark and cold room with a window,” Nino explains. “It was furnished, but there wasn’t any electricity. Ladislao was there, like I said earlier, and when I looked out the window, there were craggy mountains all around. We were really high up and the landscape was barren—like a desert.”
“Well, that could be anywhere,” the detective says. “Anything more specific? Something to help us pinpoint exactly where you were?”
Nino sighs, scratching his head. “I… Ladislao said he could smell water around when he’d tried to escape before. It could be an island? I don’t—ah! There were weird trees scattered around, too. I’d never seen anything like them before. They looked like… umbrellas? But flipped upside down.” Nino gestures with his hands to emphasize the shape. “The branches reached up toward the sky instead of out or down like most trees.”
The detective pulls her phone out from the bag at her side. She mumbles as she focuses on the screen, her thumbs moving at rapid speed. “Trees that look like upside-down umbrellas…” She swipes up with her index finger, her blueish-brown eyes scanning. A moment later, the detective turns her phone toward Nino, handing it to him. “The World’s Most Magnificent Trees.See anything familiar?”
Taking the phone, Nino scrolls while Haruka leans in beside him. Nino’s eyes widen at a particular tree and he points. “This one. It says ‘Dragon’s Blood Tree’… in Yemen. Was I in Yemen?”
He hands the phone back to her and she reads the screen, scrolling once more. “Bingo. This tree only grows in a place called Socotra, which is also an island. We’ve got a solid location, gentlemen… Damn. I’ve been working this case for a whole year and my first major break hinges on a fucking tree.”
Haruka chuckles. “We have handed you the smoking gun, so to speak.”
Detective Cuevas narrows her eyes. “I do solid detective work, alright? But it usually consists of much more than correctly utilizing Internet search engines. Anyway, this is a strong lead. We’ll follow through with this and see where it takes us.”
“How will you keep Lajos incapacitated?” Haruka asks.
“Lower-level blood source,” the detective says. “If we have him feed from a first-gen vamp, that should stifle his powers pretty damn well, since he’s old blood.”
