Bite Marks (23 page)

“We will not know who is infected and who is clean.”

“Maybe they’ll find the body and call the cops. That’ll delay this whole deal by at least a day.”

“We both know the gnomes have probably cleaned up that entire mess by now.”

“But we can’t let them get into the Space Complex.”

We both turned toward the kitchen and said, “Hurry up, Bergman!”

“You can’t rush these things!” he called back. “That’s how you get false positives. And vice versa!” Which was why two a.m. found Vayl, Jack, Astral, and I in the Wheezer, following Ruvin and his clients in the Jeep, none of us any wiser as to who in the team, if any of them, had drunk the larvae-laced lemonade.

Since we’d decided to leave Cole back at the house to nurse/babysit (guard) Kyphas, we’d given Ruvin his party line doodads. He tried to do the chatty, but nobody’s ever up for light conversation at two in the morning. Especially not two software engineers, a marketing manager, and the mistress of a missing vice president. And, well, Ruvin wasn’t all that gifted anyway. So only once did they have anything to say.

And that was when they got into the Jeep.

“G’day, mates! Do we have a sleepyhead, then? I only count five of you and I’m sure I brought six from the airport.”

“Our team leader left a note saying he had a family emergency,” one of them replied shortly. “I’m surprised you’re not the one who drove him to the airport.”

“Oh, no, Mr. uh…”

“Johnson.”

“No sir, Mr. Johnson, that wasn’t me. I’m so sorry to hear… well, if there’s anything I can do…”

“Just get us to work before Tykes starts whining about his arm again.”

“It hurts!” came another voice, higher than the first and laced with pain. “I have a mark. Did one of you punch me when you were trying to wake me up?”

Chorus of denials, although I thought I heard a third voice, which must’ve belonged to the marketing guy, Pit, mutter, “I’d like to take a swing at you.”

Then Tykes said, “Look, Bindy’s asleep already. It’s a miracle that bimbo got dressed as out of it as she was before. Does she take sleeping pills?”

“Dunno,” said Johnson. “But she’s gotta be on something, because she wasn’t even upset when she heard dade took off.” Geez, had Cole given her a double dose of knock-out nose stuffing? I waited for more info, but that was the last any of them said.

I fell far enough back that they couldn’t have seen my headlights even on the straight sections of roadway. Sometime in the next five minutes the nail we’d driven into Ruvin’s back tire would release enough air to flatten it. Hopefully by then Bergman would have the results. Otherwise we’d have to move on to plan B. Which involved holding everyone at gunpoint until we knew for sure who to plug.

Vayl’s phone rang.
Bergman, you are such a great—

“Hello, Martha,” Vayl said.

“Why is our secretary calling you?” I whispered. “It’s the Oversight Committee, isn’t it? They’ve found some sort of loophole and they’re—”

Vayl made a swift, cutting gesture with his hand. One he’d never used on me before. When his fingers clenched into a fist I knew the news was bad.

“When?” he asked.

While he waited, I tried not to dredge up all the possible nuggets o’ nasty she might be feeding him.

Problem was, in our business, that was all we ever dealt with. So nightmare visions kept slapping the backs of my eyeballs. Floraidh Halsey wasn’t as decrepit as we’d thought when we’d left Inverness.

She’d recruited a new coven and declared war on the CIA. Or worse, another zombie king had risen in Tehran, one too powerful even for our friend Asha Vasta to combat. Or—

“All right. Yes, I understand.” Vayl closed the phone. “Pull over.” I didn’t protest. He knew the risk we were taking with such a delay. Which meant I really didn’t want to be driving when he dropped the bomb. I eased the Wheezer onto the narrow shoulder, even remembering to activate the hazard lights before turning to face him. “What is it?”

“Pete is dead.”

Isat so still, staring out onto the hood where I’d last seen Pete’s image that I could’ve been a corpse.

Like Pete was now. Lying somewhere, inanimate. Nothing left to lift his hand, brush it across those two proud hairs on his head. No spark to light his eyes when he talked about his wife and kid.

Who’s going to bitch at me when I throw a dent into the fender now? I’ll be totally out of control!

I’ll be like a one-woman Demolition Derby!

Vayl said, “Jasmine. Are you listening?”

“Um.”

“He was murdered in his office. Slashed across the throat with something duller than a knife. Theories abound, but Martha believes it was a claw. His computer was stolen. His files ransacked. Whoever did it now has access to every field agent’s identity and current location. Everyone is being called in. Officially, the department will be shut down until a full investigation can be completed.” His voice went arid.

“Which, according to Oversight Committee estimates, will take at least six months.”

“I just reorganized all those files. Remember? While my collarbone was healing. God, was Pete pissed.”

“Jasmine?”

The concern in Vayl’s voice woke me up just enough to show me what to do. “Everyone I care about dies. You see that, right? Matt and Jessie, my crew. Granny May and Gramps Lew. I don’t know if my mom counts, but Pete does. You have to go.”

“What?”

I shot out my door, ran around to his side, and yanked his open, ignoring Jack’s attempt to poke his head outside. “If you stay with me, you’re going to go poof. Like a big cloud of steam coming out of a locomotive, and all that’ll be left is your cane, and bits of really expensive cloth, and some ash, which I’ll have to scoop up and put in some kind of container that I’ll be able to carry around with me the rest of my life. Not an urn, because the lids pop off at the worst possible moments. Maybe a Rubbermaid container. Tell me you don’t want that! Tell me you don’t want to ride around in a plastic box like a piece of leftover turkey!”

I said the last part into the lapel of Vayl’s jacket, because he’d come out of the Wheezer sometime during my rant and toward the end had pulled me into a bone-squeaking hug. “And I was afraid you would not react at all,” he said softly. “But perhaps you could agree this is somewhat extreme?”

“How?”

“I am Vampere. People have been trying to murder me for centuries. And you see how successful they have been?”

“Even an idiot can get lucky,” I muttered.

“Which is why I have you. Now, do you truly want to abandon the subject of our conversation?” I said, “I can’t talk about h-him right now. After?”

He inclined his head. “Then let this be of some consolation. Before Martha disconnected she gave me a code phrase.”

“Yeah?”

“She said,
Owls are not the only night-hunters
.”

“But… that means…”

He shrugged. “Martha must never have been a secretary, because now she is the acting head of our department. Also in code, she directed me to complete our mission and to report back only to her.” I shook my head. “It’s too much.”

“So let us save Ruvin’s life and, in so doing, rescue NASA from these zealots, as Pete requested in the first place.”

Is this what Cassandra meant? Have we failed already and Pete is the first of many to die as a
result?

Pete! You dumb son of a bitch! Why did you let them do it?

He assumed he was safe
, Granny May said sadly.

I hunched my shoulders.
Why don’t they ever know better?

The Wheezer was damn near choking by the time we caught up to Ruvin’s Jeep. Since the party line’s reach maxed out at around two miles, we hadn’t heard the conversation when the tire went flat. But there the vehicle stood, parked by the side of the road just as we’d planned.

“Where’s the jack?” While my dog panted in my ear to let me know he hadn’t gone far I added, “And the spare? Ruvin should’ve been faking some repairs while he waited for us.”

“In fact, where is Ruvin?” Vayl asked as we pulled in behind the Jeep. The tinted back windows revealed nothing of what might be going on inside. “Do you feel anything?” he asked.

We could both pick up on extreme human emotions, but when I shook my head I could tell he agreed.

Either everybody inside was grooving to some great new jazz tune, or it was empty.

I drew Grief anyway. “Jack, stay. And don’t scare the robokitty. Astral, you stay too. We may need you later. With your head attached.”

“Okey dokey, pokey!” she said. Vayl raised his eyebrows at me as I shrugged. Personality change was one thing, but this cheerful bullshit was wearing thin quick. Deciding it would be okay if Jack gave Astral another nasty surprise, I approached the Jeep’s driver side, keeping step with Vayl, who’d taken the opposite.

“Ready?” he asked softly.

I reached forward. Wrapped my hand around the back door handle. Raised my gun and nodded once.

“Now.”

We jerked the doors open, Vayl’s sweep of frigid powers preceding my shout of, “Don’t move!” I jumped back as a body flopped out the door, torso first, its hips and legs remaining inside. It was dade’s mistress. Or what was left of her. “Shit!”

I moved back into position, training Grief on every possible point of attack. All I saw was a second body, slumped over the feet of the first, still bleeding onto Ruvin’s upholstery. They were both full of bullet wounds and missing their heads, so we couldn’t tell who the second body belonged to until Vayl slipped off its wedding ring.
Lyssa & Max forever
had been engraved on the inside.

“I believe that is the marketing executive,” he said.

“Which means Ruvin and the software engineers are missing.” We did a quick perimeter check. No more bodies. No sign of a struggle.

“Why?” I murmured. “You just change the tire and keep moving. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Do you suppose Ruvin told them about us?”

“Possibly.” It didn’t feel right though. “Maybe… I don’t know, maybe Brude had something to do with this. He’s got resources other than me. And the shaman might be able to reach into the beyond. Maybe they connected somehow. Maybe he let the information slip before I got a handle on him.” Vayl sent me a piercing look. “Are you saying you have control now?” I hesitated. Aw, what the hell. I hadn’t heard a peep from him, and my whole crew of mental misfits had returned. “Yeah. As much as I can with him stuck in my brain. I know my thoughts are my own. He can’t move me. And he can’t snoop into my conversations anymore.” Vayl stepped toward me. For a second I thought he looked taller. Then I realized the relief had been so immense that I’d actually seen it release him. He grasped my shoulders, stared deep into my eyes, like he needed more assurance.

“Yes,” he murmured. “Finally. I knew you could do it.”

“
We
did it. Together.”

Realization widened his eyes. “Ahh. I only wish…” He rubbed his thumb across my bottom lip, leaving a trail of tingles that multiplied so rapidly I had to grab his elbows to hold myself steady. He went on. “But we have just begun this night’s work.”

Dammit! We need another vacation! To Mars!

“True,” I said, sighing. Vayl’s phone rang again and we stared at it with dread. But this time the source was expected. Vayl spoke into it for a total of ten seconds and then hung up.

“That was just Bergman confirming what we already suspected. The software engineers, Johnson and Tykes, are both carrying gnome larvae for the Ufranites.”

“Okay. So our targets are clear.”

“And now I can clarify our other plans as well. You see, the flat tire idea was never real. We only developed it because we were sure Brude would find a way to leak it.” Vayl’s voice had loosened in his relief, become fuller as if every revelation released a strangler from his throat.

“Oh. So. Where are they?”

“They are on foot, just as we wished it.” He paused. Grimaced so deeply the sides of his lips actually turned down. “We should have been here sooner to chase them into the ambush we had set up, but the news about Pete…” He paused. We both drew a breath before he went on. “Ruvin’s chatter leads us to believe we should still be able to turn events to our advantage.”

“What ambush are you talking about? And how are you hearing Ruvin but I’m not?” Vayl chose to answer the second question. “Ruvin is carrying a bug, so we can listen in on his conversation.”

“On another frequency,” I said bitterly.

Vayl said, “Tap your earpiece three times.”

I followed his instructions, realizing I was aping the move Cole had made when we’d arrived back at the house after the failed kangaroo petting mission, when he’d been so eager to talk to Cassandra. Suddenly I could hear Ruvin, panting, saying, “Are you sure I can’t talk you out of this? Aw!” And the sound of his feet scrabbling to keep himself upright after an obvious shove.

Vayl said, “You must understand, our misdirections have only been because of Brude. Because we could not work out how to fool him without excluding you as well. And…”

“What?”

“You are not going to like this.”

“So say it fast.”

“Come, let us walk while we talk.” We started up the hill to the west of the car. In a low voice so as not to spook those we pursued Vayl said, “We have proof that the Ufranites are not acting alone. They are, in fact, being funded by a group who wants to keep the moon free from human interference. At first it bewildered us how such vastly different
others
could meet. But Cassandra’s investigations have yielded a trove of information.”

“I like that,” said Cassandra. “It makes me sound like the kind of pirate who would never hurt anyone.” I stuck my finger in my ear. “Cassandra! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“But you didn’t just hunker down like I told you to.”

“How could I? When you handed me the drawing from the dead guard, I Saw that some of the gnomes were disgusted with the shaman and I knew that could be our route to discrediting him. After Cole translated ‘
ylmi
’ to mean ‘tainted’ I realized the gnomes with the crowns were actually Ufranites with stars on their heads. Pure gnomish. And the sign of the Resistance is the star tattoo, just like the one we saw on the guard. So I began searching for others like him. I had so many visions I began to feel like I was walking in a dream. But I found them. They’re only a handful, but they recently discovered the truth.