Real Vampires Have More to Love (5 page)

I touched the table where we’d just made love. What did they call what we’d just done? A booty call? I straightened my sweater and adjusted my jeans, which had enough spandex to have helped when Jerry had reached inside and . . . I shook my head. Time to get a grip. I had life-and-death issues to deal with. Like planning a trap for Ms. Westwood. Jerry was right. I needed to use some vamp mind control and make her forget she’d ever heard of Glory St. Clair. I headed for the door into the shop.

“Hold it right there, missy.” Emmie Lou Nutt, one of my resident ghosts, shimmered between me and the doorknob.

“Not now, Emmie, I’ve got things to do and people to see out there.” I saw her husband, Harvey, shimmer into place beside her. He wore his usual overalls, never wore anything else. Emmie was stuck for eternity in the cowgirl outfit she’d worn the day Harvey had accidentally run over her in his pickup at the Texas State Fair. They lived in my shop because they’d met in this building more years ago than they’d admit.

“Reckon you don’t wanta be goin’ out there right now, missy. There’s a mischief maker wantin’ a piece of your hide waitin’.” Harvey had a toothpick in his mouth, and he shifted it from the left to the right as he looked at his wife. “Tell her, hon.”

“He’s right, Glory. Hidin’ a stake in his pocket. Good thing he’s not wearin’ them vampire-detectin’ glasses, or he’d of had him a field day with your friends out there. Instead he’s got a picture of you in his pocket right next to that durn stake.” Emmie Lou swished her skirt. “Harvey tossed a purse at his head.” She giggled. “Made him jump. Right, Harvey?”

“Sure did.” Harvey sidled up close to me. “Call your vampire buddies in here and have a confab. You know, send ’em one of them there mental messages like ya do. Get Flo to read that fella’s mind. Find out who he is.”

“What is this? Stake Glory week? I wonder if he works for Vivien Westwood?” I realized Harvey had the right idea. I unlocked the storeroom door and sent a mental message to Flo. “What did this guy look like?” I listened while Harvey described him. Not exactly rock-star material. In fact, he sounded cute but ordinary. A lot like—

The storeroom door opened, and Flo and Richard rushed inside, then slammed and locked it.

“He’s David Westwood, another heir to the Westwood billions. He’s trying to kill you.” Flo hugged me close. “Don’t worry, we’ll rip out his throat as soon as he’s outside and away from your shop. I know how you are about bad publicity.”

I breathed in Flo’s expensive perfume. What was this—a vamp-hunting contest? I pulled back. Yes, got it in one. And how like Brent Westwood to arrange something creepy from the grave.

“Killing Westwood’s son would be a little more than bad publicity, darling.” Richard leaned against the door. No sign of my ghosts. Apparently they were back in the shop, ready to toss more purses if necessary. I hoped they stuck to non-breakables.

“He’s right, Flo. As much as I’d love an easy solution, I have a feeling that if both a son and a daughter are after me, then there’s probably some kind of paper trail that would make a cover-up difficult.” I sat on the table where I’d had such fun just minutes ago. “And how many kids did this billionaire have anyway?” I wished for my laptop, which was in the shop.

“Easy to find out.” Richard opened the door a crack. “I’m also going to discover how many men he brought in with him. I thought it was busy for eleven o’clock on a Tuesday night.”

“Anybody buying anything?” I jumped off the table. At least if business was good that would be some consolation.

“Zilch. Except for this.” Flo held out her wrist. “I love my new bracelet. Vintage costume jewelry is very in right now. And this was a signed piece. Lacy gave Richard a discount.”

“It’s perfect on you.” I knew it was one of my more expensive items too. I smiled at Richard. “Bring my laptop in here. We can research the Westwood family, and I’ve got to check on stuff for Flo’s party if I live long enough to throw it. You did register, didn’t you?”

Richard grimaced. “Of course we went through that nonsense. Can you imagine vampires picking china and sterling flatware? The crystal goblets? Fine. Bed linens? Sure.” He glanced at Flo. “But my beloved is enjoying this, so I do what I must.” He smiled at me. “Don’t worry, Gloriana, you’ll live to endure every one of these wedding festivities. Now, Florence, lock this door behind me.” He slipped into the shop and closed the door.

“Pah! He loved picking out everything. You should have seen him feeling the towels and comparing thread counts on the sheets.” Flo locked the door. “He’s right. We’ll take care of these Westwoods. Nothing is going to spoil my wedding.”

“I hope you’re right.” I forced a smile. Now Flo frowned. “What?”

“It’s Aggie. She says she’s giving me a shower. Do you think she means one of those parties with gifts? Or ...” She paced around the workroom.

“Well, Flo, she
is
a Siren. Weather is her specialty. I’ve seen her drum up a typhoon when she’s unhappy. I’ll check with her.” I hugged my former roomie. “Of course you should have a bridal shower. Wish I’d thought of it. Tell me where you’re registered, and I’ll make sure she puts it on the invitations.” I’d put the screws to Aggie a.k.a. Aglaophonos. The Siren
owed
me. If a bridal shower would make Flo happy, then Aggie would deliver. And no one would end up wet.

We both looked up when there was a knock on the door.

“It’s Richard.” Flo unlocked the door and eased it open.

“They’re gone. I planted the idea that you’d had a run-in with his sister and had fled town. Wouldn’t be back for months.” Richard laid the laptop on the table. “That should hold them off for a while. But we can’t count on that to last. He’s bound to have his own investigators.” He opened the laptop and booted it up. “Now let’s see just how many little Westwoods are running around praying for a Glory sighting.”

“But Richard, what’s the deal? Why are they all after me?” I looked over his shoulder. Google had a lot of sites about the billionaire, but Richard had become a pro at picking out the best one. Soon we could see a family portrait. I sagged with relief. Two kids. Vivien and David. Okay.

“Seems Westwood’s determined to get you even from the grave, Glory. I read young David’s mind. The will says that if Dad’s taken down by a vampire, the kid who gets the vamp ‘assassin’ gets the gold. All of it.”

“What?” I sank down on the table.

“Yep. Billions, made from the tech industry. And, trust me, Westwood sold out long before any problems with the economy. So it’s a huge pile.” Richard was on a page now that showed a bio for each child. Neither Vivien nor David seemed to work for a living, obviously sponging off Daddy. One lived in Hollywood and the other in Paris. Both had expensive tastes judging by the homes they kept.

“David was really ramped up about it. He didn’t even know Dad was missing until his allowance check didn’t come on time. Seems they weren’t close. Anyway, he and his sister jetted here to see what’s what and met two bodyguards who told this wild tale about how Dad bit the big one at the hands of this female vampire. Had a cell phone video to prove it.” Richard put his hand on my shoulder.

“You’re kidding. They took video?” I looked at Flo. “I’m cooked.”

“Maybe, maybe not.” Richard still looked very serious. “It was poor quality. Made at night, from a distance. The guards knew your name because Westwood had talked about you so much. You know he was pretty obsessed.”

“Oh, yeah. He stalked me.” I was mad now. Haunting me from the grave. How sick was that? “But what are his kids doing here? I mean, revenge? Surely a will that mentioned vampires wouldn’t hold up in court.”

“Of course it wouldn’t.” Richard smiled. “And I think when David and his sister calm down, they’ll realize that. They got into his papers without consulting a lawyer. One look at the terms and sibling rivalry kicked in. Unfortunately, Westwood set up a timeline in his will. If he’s not avenged within a certain time frame, the bulk of his estate goes to some charity—the Save the World from Vampires Fund. A crock, of course. Run by one of his hunting buddies.” Richard was on the fund’s Web site.

“Listen to this: ‘Our mission is to hunt down and exterminate the fanged monsters who prey on innocent victims for their blood. Membership in our organization is free to any who share our core values. For information on special vampire-hunting equipment, click on the following links.’ Then there’s a list of places where you can buy things like stakes, holy water and crosses, the usual foolishness.”

“Not Westwood’s special goggles, I hope.” I hated those things. He’d developed goggles with lenses that could identify a vampire by the lack of a mortal’s normal body heat. The worst was that he’d had a pair that looked like regular sunglasses. It made my usual blending into crowds impossible.

“No, I don’t see them here.” Richard glanced at me. “Guess he didn’t want to share all his trade secrets. But his crossbow and olive wood arrows are here. Expensive as hell.”

I shuddered and scratched my back. “Thanks a lot.”

“Glory,
mia amica
. We will take them out. Set a trap and make these Westwoods vanish.
Sì?
” Flo put her arm around me.

“No, like Richard said, we need for them to see this will is bogus. No court would let it stand. And so far Westwood is just missing, unless they found his body. David have any thoughts about that, Richard?” I swallowed, thinking about it.

“He hired a private firm to search the area the bodyguards told him about. Didn’t want to involve the police because Dad was always low-profile and it wasn’t unusual for him to go off on hunts for months at a time without communicating. He did always arrange to sign important financial documents though. That’s what got the kids’ attention this time. Bottom line, David didn’t want his father’s vampire obsession made public.”

“If he doesn’t want the vamp stuff public, he should get that Web site you’re looking at taken down.” I felt like I wore a target on my itchy back.

Richard suddenly swore, using words I’d never heard from the former priest.

“What is it?” Flo and I ran to stand behind him.

He started to slam the laptop shut, then shook his head. “You’re right. This site has to come down. But not to protect Westwood. No one should see these pictures. They’re sickening.”

“Ricardo?” Flo put her arms around him. “
Caro
, you’re scaring us.”

“It’s Westwood’s ‘Kills.’” Richard stared at me. “You should never regret ending that worthless sod’s life, Gloriana. Look.” He lifted the screen and clicked the mouse. There was a gallery of photos. He double clicked, and we could see Westwood standing with his crossbow, his foot on the body of a man who’d been shot in the chest, the arrow still in his heart.

“Oh, my God!” I felt sick as Richard enlarged the photo. In Westwood’s bloody palm were two fangs. Tears filled my eyes. “Do you think . . . could Jerry’s friend Mac Tavish be there?”

“Look away, Glory. Ricardo, shut that damned computer right now!” Flo led me from Richard’s side as she muttered Italian curses under her breath. “He’s there,
cara
. I saw him. But you don’t need to. Eight men, four women.
Bastardo!
I recognized . . .” Her voice caught. “I knew at least six of them, maybe more if I had time to study.” More bitter Italian.

I turned, and we held each other as we cried. I’d never seen Flo cry. Richard wrapped his arms around both of us. We stood there, a sad, sad trio for several moments. Then Richard stepped back and grabbed a roll of paper towels out of the bathroom.

“Dry up, ladies. Thanks to Gloriana, the man will never kill another vampire or take another pair of fangs.” Richard handed us each enough paper towels to dry every window in my shop.

“Sì, mia amica.”
Flo sniffed and dabbed at her eyes. “Never forget that you did a wonderful thing, putting down that monster. We will make sure his children do not go on with their vendetta. Am I right?”

“It’ll be tricky, but I swear it.” Richard sat in front of the computer again. “There’s this damned Web site, and he owned a tech company. I don’t see how we can crash the site.” Richard shut down the computer. “But, Glory, we’re in this all the way. Whatever needs doing, we’re here to help.”

“Sì.”
Flo smiled at Richard. “And pray for a miracle too, eh, Ricardo?”

“Couldn’t hurt.” He smiled at his wife and pulled her into his arms.

I wished for Blade’s strong arms then. But I was glad he hadn’t seen Mac posed as a trophy. I’d swear Flo and Richard to secrecy on that point. They had good intentions, and I appreciated that. But that’s all they were. Intentions. Right now what we needed was a solid plan of action. And right now we had zilch.

Four

“I love purple. Not as slimming as black, but not all of us have figure issues.” Aggie and Flo had their heads together over the magazine picture of the new bridesmaid dresses. Flo had agreed to pay an extravagant amount to rush the order, and we were good to go. Unless I killed Aggie before the wedding.