Vampire Dating Agency (9 page)

CHAPTER
THIRTY-ONE

Jason slowly lifted the headphone set
over his head, and dropped it to the floor. He looked at Maurice momentarily,
the annoyance and anger burnt out. A boundary had been crossed. This went
beyond. “Uh, Riley…” he said in a polite and quiet tone of voice. “Can I just
talk to you a moment outside?”

“What for?” Riley
muttered.

“Please,”
Jason said, sliding across. “Just come out.”

He pushed
open the back doors and stepped out to the road.

“You got this
covered?” Riley could be heard from within the van.

If Maurice
replied, it was inaudible.

Riley joined
Jason. “What do you want then?”

“Haley’s in
danger,” Jason said earnestly.

“No shit.
That’s what she signed up for.”

“It’s
different now. She’s a witness to murder.”

“So?”

“It isn’t
going to be long before they figure out she’s working for us. We need to get
her out now.”

Riley shook
her head. “I’m with Maurice on this one. Sorry.”

She went for
the van.

Jason grabbed
her arm.

“It’s her
first bleeding day,” Jason said. “If she dies, what do you think’s going to
happen to us?”

“This is Kendra’s
mission. We’re just following orders.”

“Trust me, if
there’s an investigation, Kendra is going to cover her own ass and sell us down
the river. And who could blame her? She probably doesn’t even know the full
extent of what’s happening here.”

“So what do
you want to do then? Do you want to call her? Cause –”

“Yeah, I
think we should call her. All three of us. You tell Maurice to put in the call,
and then you back me up when I make my case to Kendra.”

“Whoa,” Riley
said. “Just … let’s just think on this a minute.”

“You don’t
think it’s warranted?”

“Look … we
don’t know what’s happening with Haley. But I haven’t heard her second-guessing
her situation.”

“What do you
mean?”

“I mean,
shouldn’t we wait until Haley wants out before we try and pull her out?”

“Let’s call Kendra.
See what she has to say. You never know, she might agree with me.”

Riley folded
her arms. “Jesus Christ, man. You know I don’t ever remember you being that
concerned for my safety.”

“What can I
say,” Jason smirked. “Your memory sucks.”

CHAPTER
THIRTY-TWO

When Kendra arrived home that
evening, Mr. Armistice could be found in the kitchen with their neighbor Peggy,
making dinner together. The children were running around squealing between the
lounge room and the kitchen and maybe upstairs, chasing each other or something
of that nature. “Hi Mom!” her youngest rang out as she entered. The other two
were too preoccupied to pay her any attention. Peggy’s children were here also.

“Welcome
home, dear,” Lawrence said glancing back at her. “Peggy’s been kind enough to
offer her assistance in the kitchen tonight. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,”
Kendra said with a fake smile. “We could always use the help.”

“It’s no
bother at all,” Peggy said clutching a glass of what could only be champagne
from the fridge. “You know when you actually spend some time with this man, you
find out what a lark he is.”

“Stop it,”
Lawrence giggled.

“No you stop
it,” Peggy giggled back.

“Mom, I want
to show you something,” the youngest child said grabbing hold of Kendra’s leg.
“It’s something I made in school today, you have to come see it.”

“Not now,” Kendra
said running her fingers through his hair. “In a little bit.”

“But Mom, I
want you to come now!”

Kendra looked
to the back of the kitchen.

Peggy wasn’t
looking at her.

Lawrence was
smiling anxiously.

“What time’s
dinner?”

“Should be
about…” Lawrence began.

“Eighteen
minutes,” Peggy said.

“I’ll see you
all then.”

After
managing to detach the child from her leg, Kendra proceeded upstairs. She took
off her heels and brought her suitcase round to her study, where she unpacked
her computer. After consulting with her phone she saw that one of her teams in
the field had tried to contact her, but she had not answered.

She laid the
phone on top the desk, flexing the muscles in her jaw.

The thoughts
… were there.

But they had
not registered.

Lawrence
bobbed his head through the doorway. “Five minutes to dinner, dear.”

She waved at
him, not really looking.

“Everything alright?”
he asked.

“Uh-huh.”

“Just a
normal day today?”

“Yep.”

“Well, that’s
a relief. It’s so nice to see you in good spirits. Cheerio.”

Kendra looked
at the empty doorway once he’d departed, her eyes squinted. She stood up and
closed the door.

Then phoned
Maurice.

“What seems
to be the problem?”

CHAPTER
THIRTY-THREE

Maurice turned to his left to address
his colleague. “It’s your call, Jason.”

“Thank you,”
Jason said straightening his posture. “Hi Kendra. I wanted to make you aware of
some developments concerning Haley’s infiltration.”

“Your last
update mentioned she was going for a date with one of the vampires who singled
her out. How’s that going?”

“We’re not
quite there yet,” Jason explained. “There’s currently two persons of interest we’re
looking into, but since that Haley has accidently come across a deceased person
in the garden.”

“That’s not
entirely true,” Riley interrupted.

“What?” Jason
said.

“The woman
was still alive as we last saw her. She was just … greatly injured.”

“Where is
this going?” Kendra asked.

“Well, I
believe the woman in question was a probable victim of the killer we’re
searching for. In any case one of the Agency’s leaders discovered Haley’s
discovering of the body. And now they’ve brought her upstairs for apparent
questioning.”

“Upstairs,” Kendra
murmured. “Hold on. I’m going to pull up the video feed. I want to see where
she is exactly.”

They waited a
few moments in silence.

“She’s
alone?” Kendra remarked.

Jason looked
to Maurice. “The … Madame Nightshade has gone off somewhere else.”

“Is that her
office?” Kendra asked.

“I…”

“Maurice, is
that the Madame’s office?”

“I’m sorry. I
wasn’t paying attention.”

“You see Kendra,
this is the problem we have here,” Jason said. “Maurice isn’t taking this
seriously at all.”

“And you
are?” Kendra asked.

“Yes,
dammit,” Jason replied. “Frankly I don’t care what room she is in, we need to
get her out now before anything happens to her.”

“Maurice? Are
you there, Maurice?”

“Yes, Kendra.”

“Can you ask
Haley to stand up?”

“Uh… Okay…”

“Wait,” Jason
said. “What for?”

“Just ask
her, Maurice.”

Maurice
clicked around on his computer and pulled down the microphone from his headset.
“Haley? It’s Maurice. Can you please do us a favor and stand up?”

“Okay,” Haley
said.

She got up
from her chair.

“Ask her to
walk around the room. Get a look at everything,” Kendra said.

Maurice
repeated it back to Haley, and she complied.

“Stop,” Kendra
said. “Tell her to stop right there.”

“Haley, could
you stop please?”

“Tell her to
walk over to the desk.”

Haley walked
over to the desk.

Jason leaned
forward and saw a rectangular red object sitting at the desk’s corner.

“That’s the
master card,” Kendra said. “It’ll open any door in the whole house.”

“Take the
card, Haley.”

“What?” Haley
mumbled.

“Take the
card.”

“But what if
they find it on me?”

“Just tell
her to do it,” Kendra said.

“Do it,
Haley.”

Haley picked
up the card.

“Tell her to
put it in her bag and sit back down where she was.”

Once the dust
had settled, Jason re-addressed his boss again.

“What the
hell is going on here, Kendra?” he demanded. “Have you no concern for safety at
all?”

“Once her
questioning is over, Haley will need to be redirected towards the lower
basement area.”

“What? Have
you gone completely mad?”

“One of our
operatives could be down there,” Kendra said. “Haley needs to get her out.”

CHAPTER
THIRTY-FOUR

Haley stared down at her handbag. She
looked from the bag to the desk. Back to the bag again.

Shit.
What had she
just done?

What if
Madame Nightshade found out?

Would she
notice the card was missing?

The door
behind her opened. Haley half turned in its direction, aware it wasn’t just the
Madame who was entering the room.

A cold
presence filled the space between them, and Haley’s skin immediately sprang to
life with all the little shudders and bumps. She became aware of where her
hands were. The bend in her knees. The arches of her feet. A once relaxed
position became difficult to maintain.

“May I
introduce our sworn Master, head of the Vampire Dating Agency, Mr. Count Julian
Echo.”

The muscular
frame of the higher vampire shifted behind the desk.

Haley stared
blankly at the light purple skin protruding from the centre of his coat.

“Haley, is
it?” the Count rasped.

Haley looked
up to his monstrous gaze.

“We met
earlier on the floor,” the Count remarked, sitting down.

“Oh, I’m
sorry,” Madame Nightshade said. “It’s hard to remember these things.”

“Do you know
why you’re here, Haley?”

“To … meet
someone...?” she replied hopefully.

“I mean here
in my office.”

“Oh,” Haley
murmured. “I … I won’t say anything about the woman I found. I promise.”

“Yes, of
course, you say that now,” the Count mused. “But supposing your feelings change
once you’re safe and sound at home tomorrow. Supposing you feel like going into
the police station to report it. Whatever you say now, will probably have
little effect on what happens tomorrow.”

“That isn’t
necessarily true,” Haley said in a quiet voice.

“But you
understand our predicament. We don’t know who you are. This is your first night
here. You have no loyalty to us. You’re nobody. You’re a stranger.”

Haley shifted
nervously. “I promise I won’t tell. You have my word.”

“We’ll need
more than that.”

“What can I –
what can –?”

“Stand up,”
the Count commanded.

Haley took a
deep breath and left the chair. She glanced back at Madame Nightshade who was
staring at her coldly.

“Put your bag
onto the desk and empty its contents.”

Haley looked
back to the Count.

There was no
mercy in his eyes.

She picked up
the bag and placed it on top the desk. Her fingers pulled back clasp.

“Her bag was
checked earlier,” Madame Nightshade muttered.

The Count
blinked a few times. “You don’t think an examination is necessary? You can
vouch for this one?”

The Madame
approached and stood beside Haley.

“She’s quite
harmless, I’m sure,” Madame Nightshade said. “Brock Ferns is currently waiting
on her. He would be upset if something were to happen to her.”

“That would
be most unfortunate,” the Count replied. “But then, how are we to deal with
this predicament?”

The vampires
looked Haley over.

“I swear to
you, on my life,” she said. “I won’t tell anyone anything about what happens
here tonight. I have nothing to gain from it. I just … I just want to have a
good time.”

“I think we
can let her go with a warning,” Madame Nightshade said.

The Count
hesitated.

Then nodded.

“Give it to
her then.”

The Madame
proceeded to strike Haley across the face, causing her to collapse to her
knees. The Madame brought her up again, so that she could strike her a few more
times.

The blood…
The tears…

The pain…

It all fell
convincingly out of Haley.

“You fuck
with us and we’ll destroy you,” Madame Nightshade hissed in her ear.

Haley nodded,
but she couldn’t feel a thing.