Playing With Vampires - An Izzy Cooper Novel (13 page)

It was only a short drive to Storm Cove from the lighthouse. That meant I could enjoy lunch and a cup of coffee, and still be back to the office within the hour.

The Bayside Grill had the best clam chowder on the island, and they always served it with a huge piece of fresh baked bread. It was my favorite lunch.

When I was done with my chowder, I sat back to enjoy my coffee and a moment of respite. From where I was sitting, I could watch the boats going in and out of the port. The scene was so tranquil that it was difficult to believe there was so much darkness on the island. On the outside, Mystique Island was the perfect getaway, and a nice place to raise a family. It was only after you’d been on the island awhile you got to know her secrets, and there were a lot of those.

Lost in thought, time slipped away without me realizing it. I’d have to get back to the office soon, so I downed the last swallow of coffee. When paying the check, I ordered a piece of apple pie to go.

I was only half way to my car when I saw the paper flapping in the breeze. Someone had placed a piece of paper beneath the windshield wiper.

I could forgive a lot of things, but messing with my car wasn’t one of them. When someone messed with Lady Luck, they were just asking for it.

Annoyed, I carefully lifted the windshield wiper and grabbed the paper. Expecting it to be some kind of advertisement, I almost didn’t even look at it. It was the sloppy handwriting that caught my attention.

My throat constricted painfully as I read the words scrawled on the paper.

Be at the ship salvage by three this afternoon. If you inform the police or your colleagues, you will never see your grandmother again.

Dropping the note, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and speed dialed my grandmother’s number. It rang six times before someone answered.

“Hello,” Aaron mumbled.

“Where’s grandma?” I asked.

“I don’t know. What makes you think I know?” he grouched.

I contemplated telling him about the note, but changed my mind. If Uncle Aaron panicked and called the police, there was no telling what the Ripper would do.

“When did you last see her?”

“Yesterday. I get in very late, remember?”

“Well did she say anything about going out somewhere today?” I pushed.

“I don’t know, maybe.” There was a long pause before he added. “Come to think of it she did say something about a luncheon.”

“Okay. Stay near the phone,” I told him.

“What do you mean stay near the phone? I’m going to throw it out the window.”

The phone went dead.

Damn he could get ornery when someone disturbed his sleep.

Getting into Lady Luck, I started driving around. There were only a few places Granny and her friends liked to have lunch. Since I’d just been at the Grill, that one was out.

After checking the last café Granny frequented, I put Lady Luck in park and stared at the phone sitting on the passenger seat.

I knew I should call Ayden and let him know what was going on, but there was no telling how the Ripper was getting information. As far as I knew, he could have put a recording device in our office. It was doubtful, but not impossible.

I couldn’t risk granny’s life. I’d have to go to the salvage yard alone.

Reaching beneath the driver’s seat, I grabbed the Glock that I kept hidden there. Checking to make sure it was loaded, I stuck it in my back waistband. Maybe if I arrived a little early, I’d catch him by surprise.

The ship salvage yard was at the southern point of the island. It was a lonely location, with no nearby businesses or residents, which no doubt was why it was chosen. He could
get rid of me and escape without anyone ever seeing him. The Ripper’s identity would remain a secret.

When I saw the sign for the salvage yard, I slowed Lady Luck to a crawl, and pulled off the Island Loop Highway onto the dirt road. Because the road was full of potholes and rocks, the going was slow. If for some reason I had to escape quickly, I was going to be out of luck.

Bringing the car to a stop, I parked near an old shack that passed for a business office. The first thing I did after getting out of the car, was to look in the shack’s windows. It was empty.

My heart fell as I surveyed the lot. There was everything from small fishing boats to ships. He could be keeping Granny anywhere.

I figured I was actually going to have to play FBI for a change and look for clues. There were a lot of tire tracks, but that didn’t mean anything. The salvage yard was open for business three days a week. The tracks could have been left the day before.

The sound of clanking metal caught my attention. I scanned the yard in the direction the sound was coming from and saw that the metal door of a huge, black logging ship was open. The breeze caught the door just right and slammed it.

That was the last thing my consciousness absorbed before pain exploded in my skull and my world went black.

* * *

The first thing I became aware of when I regained consciousness was that I couldn’t move. I seemed to be strapped to some kind of table. As soon as I tried to open my eyes, the room started spinning.

When I finally managed to pry my eyes open, there was a huge shadow looming above me. As I focused more, I realized the shadow was a man.

Wearing a dark cloak and an old hat on his head, he looked exactly like I’d always imagined the Ripper to look like, except the man standing over me was Charlie.

How crazy was that?

Charlie from Pies & Stuff was really Jack the Ripper.

“What are you?” he asked.

I tried to say something, but my throat was so dry, I couldn’t make my voice work.

“I asked you a question,” he said, glaring at me.

That’s when I noticed that there was something different about Charlie. His lips and the side of his mouth looked burned. The skin was black and peeling, as if he’d tried to drink battery acid or something.

“You know who I am.”

“I know
who
you are, but
what
are you?” he demanded.

That’s when I realized what must have happened. The Ripper was a vampire, and he’d tried to feed from me.

When I still didn’t answer, he placed the edge of a knife to my throat.

“Your blood is poisonous. I want to know why?”

The last thing you want to do if someone has a knife to your throat, is laugh, but I couldn’t help myself.

I laughed.

There was some pain as he cut me a little.

“I don’t know,” I gasped.

It was the truth. I had no idea why my blood was toxic to vampires, or at least this vampire. I did have a theory though. If I had to take a guess, I would assume it had something to do with the angel part of my fallen angel status.

“Where’s my grandmother?”

“I tucked her away someplace where she’ll never be found.”

There was more pain as he cut into my neck a little deeper.

Use your power!

Julius’s voice was in my head again. He was going to let me take care of this one on my own. That way I would be forced to use some demon juice.

I was almost there. One more cut and I just might have summoned the powers of hell. There was an explosive sound, like a bomb going off in a metal box.

The Ripper barely had time to look up and he was flying across the room. Zane was there, staring down at me.

“Are you okay?”

I nodded. “He has my grandmother!”

It was too late. While Zane had been talking to me, the Ripper escaped.

“Untie me! I have to find him!” I yelled.

It was no use. Zane had gone after the other vampire.

“Granny Stella!” I howled at the top of my lungs.

My heart dropped when I heard Granny’s voice in my head.

“I’m okay child.”

Tears pooled in my eyes as I screamed, “Granny!”

The fact that I could hear her in my head could mean only one thing. She was already gone.

My neck was bleeding pretty good, which would explain why I blacked out again. The next thing I became aware of was being cradled in Zane’s arms as he was carrying me outside.

Once we were out in the cool night air, my head felt a little clearer. There were already flashing lights from police cruisers.

“How did you know where to find me?” I asked.

“That’s a secret that I might reveal one day … if you’re nice to me,” he added.

The next thing I knew, I was on a stretcher and there were paramedics working on me. Tim was there, grabbing my hand.

“Izzy, you sure do know how to get yourself into trouble.”

“He has Granny,” I sobbed.

“Don’t worry. We’re looking for her.”

“But he got away,” I cried.

“Mister Dupree is out looking for him now. Also, we are putting together a search of the island. Every spare officer is being called in,” Tim spoke in a calm- even voice that helped to damper my panic, just a little.

* * *

The squeaking of the swing as it moved was annoying most of the time, but at the moment, it seemed almost like a lullaby.

How many days had I spent sitting in the swing with Granny, staring out at the sea, just like I was doing now.

The days had turned into weeks, but the police never found any sign of Granny. The Ripper had vanished as well.

Life on the island was slowly beginning to return to normal, for everyone except me. I would never rest until I figured out what happened to Granny. If she were dead, then she should at least have the respect of being laid to rest.

Aaron took it very hard. For a while there, he’d been so out of control, he couldn’t run the station, but eventually he snapped out of it.

These days he’d convinced himself that Granny wasn’t actually dead. He believed she’d been taken into another dimension.

I wasn’t convinced. There had been that one message from her and then nothing after that. When Annabelle had been pulled into another dimension, I’d still been able to feel that she was alive, but not with Granny.

I couldn’t feel her at all. It was as if she’d just simply ceased to exist. Although I couldn’t feel her, there was one small glimmer of hope. I also hadn’t seen her. If she really were dead, I was sure Granny would have found a way to contact us.

True, I had heard her voice while I was being held on that old ship, but I still couldn’t believe she wouldn’t have given us more.

It had been three weeks since the Ripper and Granny disappeared. In that time, things on our little island had been quiet, almost too quiet.

But things were about to change. I could feel it in my gut.

# # #

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Kendra Ashe grew up reading stories of intrigue and mysteries of the paranormal. As a teen she discovered her love of telling stories, and naturally leans toward the kind of stories she likes to read.

You can learn more about the Izzy Cooper series by visiting Kendra on the web at
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