Annie Nicholas - Catch

He waved.

What a covert specialist. I shook my head at the sight. Like it or not, I missed Red.

All beefy muscles and built like a linebacker, he was Colby’s second in command. Some people associated dumb with big. Red hadn’t survived this long as a slayer by being stupid. I waved back and watched him bulldoze his way through the crowd.

“Holy hot mamas, Connie. What do ya charge for a night?”

“More than you could ever afford.” The big lug wore an orange Hawaiian shirt and pink shorts. “You look like a color blind tourist. That’s usually not your style.”

“Maybe, Sen-w hore -a we should take these negotiations to my room.” He slipped a folded Brazilian dollar between my breasts.

I braced myself as I prepared to punch him in the face, but caught the wink he aimed at me. Blood threatened to pink my cheeks as I relaxed my stance. It had been a long time since I’d operated with this mercenary group. Nothing ever seemed like it should be, which made me as nervous as a virgin on her first hot date.

Red led me to the elevator. “Ladies-of-the-night first.” He held the door.

Uncomfortable under his scrutiny, I crossed to the far corner of the lift and watched the doors slide closed behind him. “So, what have you been up to—”

He splashed a vial of cold liquid in my face.

I gasped. “What’s your problem?” Then wiped the drops from my eyes, hoping it wasn’t a knockout drug. It didn’t smell and I didn’t feel woozy. Fists clenched with my blood boiling, I stepped up to him. Red’s laughter didn’t help my state of mind. “This isn’t a joke.” The words sounded like a growl.

“No, it ain’t.” He snorted one more time before he stopped laughing and gathered me in a bone-crunching bear hug. “Needed to make sure you didn’t cross over and go vamp.”

“If I did cross over… that could have killed me.” I wheezed out those last words with the remaining air in my lungs.

Red squeezed me a little harder until stars flashed in front of my eyes then set me down. “It’s holy water. A little dry cleanin’ will fix the stains on that lovely dress.”

“You’re an ass.” I stumbled away and flung the money still stuck in my cleavage at his feet. “I only came here to tell Colby to stick it in his ear. This proves you guys are nuts.”

“Are we? Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? Pale and lean, you even come up on my internal radar as a predator. We’ve observed Rurik teachin’ you how to hunt.” He tried to block my attempt to hit the lobby button with his bulk, and didn’t move fast enough. “Then there’s the speed.”

“These are things linked to my blood bond with Rurik. And he’s not teaching me how to hunt.” My flush grew hotter as Red raised his eyebrow in doubt. “It’s a game, okay? Leave it at that.”

“Kinky.” The door opened on his floor. He didn’t budge, just stuck his foot out to keep the elevator door from closing and continuing down to the lobby.

I crossed my arms. “What do mean observed ? Are you watching me?”

He blinked. “If we happen to be in the same area we check in on you. You gotta understand how much it eats at us to lose one of our own.”

“I was never a slayer. I was your bait.”

“Maybe to Colby, but to me you were a friend. Are a friend.” He offered me a hand.

I could count the number of people who cared for me on one hand. Red used to be one of them. It hurt him when I left the group to be with Rurik.

“The vial only contained a couple tablespoons of the stuff, Connie. It would have stung but you would have healed.” He sighed. “I couldn’t kill ya.”

Against my better judgment, I placed my hand in his. “Dumb oaf.”

“Cheap date.” He grinned from ear to ear and I mirrored him.

“Ya know Colby, he’d never ask for help unless he really needed it.” His smile faded. “Young girls are dying in the area and we haven’t been able to catch the bastard doin’ it.” He tugged my hand. “Let’s go talk.”

I glanced over my shoulder as the lift door closed on my way back to Rurik. My life was a trail of stupid decisions and this one topped them all. If I brought him, Colby would never disclose what he needed from me. I wanted to help, especially with lives hanging in the balance. Rurik would understand, after much persuasion on my part.

Red unlocked a door and held it for me. Decorated in pale beige, the hotel room appeared elegant with its modern dark wood furniture. A king-sized bed sat to my left, a sitting area with a sleek couch and matching chairs to my right. The man in the high backed chair by the window drew most of my attention.

Dressed in a worn green t-shirt and blue jeans, Colby watched me cross the room and sit in the chair facing him. His flat expression didn’t match the tension in his body.

Unlike Red, we’d never shared a friendship, just a professional relationship. I don’t think Colby had any friends. He was a man on a mission. I just never got the memo explaining what it was.

“So, you’re still human.”

“Last I checked.” I leaned back into the stiff cushion, crossed my legs and flashed plenty of thigh. This man could make an ice sculpture look warm. The last time I’d seen him show emotion was when I’d rescued him from Tane’s yacht. A fury of hatred poured from him then as he tried to kill the Nosferatu vampire with his bare hands. Laughable now, but terrifying then.

“Still a smart ass too. What did you do with your master?” He glanced at Red guarding the door who shook his head in denial. “Rurik didn’t come with you?”

“He’s not my master. Rurik’s on the beach waiting for me, so hurry this up. I won’t play this game.”

“Very well.” He drew a manila envelope from under his chair and tossed it at me.

Inside I found pictures. Déjà vu settled over me. Budapest all over again . They’d better not be here to convince me Rurik was a murderer. We’d walked this road one too many times.

I slid them out and found pictures of young girls. Each one about my age, not a bite mark on them except the last two, the others were cut at an important pulse point—carotid, femoral, or radial. The wounds could hide evidence of possible vampire attack, but it could be a psycho as well. “Red told me about them. Why were you hired for this?”

I flipped through them again. Age was the only similarity I saw.

“Whoever is doing this got sloppy and didn’t even bother to hide the bite marks on the last two girls.” Colby leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees.

“What makes you think they’re all vamp victims? I can’t see the link.”

“The hair.”

“What?” I looked at them again and understood somewhat. Complicated, intricate braids adorned their heads. Very in-style over a hundred years ago. “He does their hair?

That’s just weird.”

He grunted and nodded.

“Still doesn’t explain who hired you for this?” I placed the pictures back in the envelope. Not the way I wanted to start my New Year.

“The detective working this case is familiar with our kind of work. He recognized the signs and hired us as contractors.”

“Really? I didn’t think vampires existing was common knowledge.” My brows furrowed at the thought. From what I understood, most people didn’t know, and that’s how the vampires wanted it. Outright killing drew too much attention so they banned it centuries ago and punished those caught severely.

Therein lay the problem. Most were too smart to leave a trail if they went too far and actually killed their prey. The Nosferatu took care of matters if they did it too often.

Where the hell were they then if we had a vampire on a murdering spree?