“Maybe,” Nick said. The phone rang, and he pulled his cell phone out of the duster’s pocket. He frowned at the caller ID before opening up the phone. “Hello?”
Jackie could hear a man’s voice on the other line. It sounded vaguely English.
Nick’s eyes narrowed. His mouth drew into a thin crease. “Hello, Cornelius.”
Chapter 51
“Nicholas! My old friend. You gave it a good go of things that time. I must say I was actually impressed with your efforts.” He chuckled softly into Nick’s ear, and Nick found himself clenching his teeth so hard his jaw had begun to hurt.
Jackie’s eyes were wide in surprise. She mouthed the words “Keep him on the phone” to him. Nick nodded. He knew they had bugged his phone, and he had let it remain on just this off-chance occurrence.
“Sometimes we just get lucky,” he replied. “Where’s she at, Drake? You can dispense with the niceties.”
“Would you be referring to Ms. Fontaine or little Agatha?”
Nick closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Every time around, he had needed to put up with the reminders, and Drake had made sure to provide them, occasionally in far more detail than necessary. “Let’s stick with the girl for now.”
“Of course, of course. Far more noble to try to save the child. I could always count on you to be an honorable man, Nicholas. That is what has made this so entertaining, you know. And in the end, that is what the game comes down to, is it not? Where does honor stand in relation to vengeance, my good sheriff?”
Wordy fucking bastard. “The honorable thing is justice, and in your case, Drake, that goes beyond the hangman’s noose. So would you care to tell me where she is so we can have this little showdown you’ve been dreaming of for a hundred years? Or are you going to pop back through the doorway again?”
Drake laughed, high-pitched, and sounding very nonsinister for a five-hundred-year-old vampire. “Caught you off guard with that one, didn’t I? I wish I could have seen the look on your faces. Priceless, to be sure.”
“I don’t really have expectations about you anymore, Cornelius. This scheme is tiring and stale, and I’m ready for its conclusion. I am curious though. How much blood does it take to cross over?”
“You will have to learn that trick on your own, and I believe you have grown far too moral to pursue that course of action.”
“Keeps me human at least,” Nick said, not trying to hide the menace in his voice.
Drake laughed. “Now, now, Sheriff. Taking the high ground again? I knew it would be your undoing, but as I said at the first, I shall say at the last. If you wish to win this game, dear boy, you shall have to be that which you are not. Nonetheless, you’ve had a sporting chance, and one cannot say I did not give you the opportunities, Nicholas.”
“You always were the thoughtful one,” Nick replied.
“I dare say we would have gotten along splendidly under other circumstances, but we got off on a bit of the wrong foot back then.”
“That would be stating it mildly, yes. Anyway, about this sporting chance. What have you got in mind this time?”
Drake huffed, sounding offended. “I’ve already given it to you. You haven’t proven very adept at finding me, which I shall admit is rather difficult these days, but I had the good graces to call and chat so your fine lass there could trace the call. Really, Nicholas. I’m not stupid, and neither are you, so please do not insult me. We are nearly done, and then perhaps you can have a few words with Gwendolyn before I drain your souls completely away.”
Nick gripped his phone so hard his hand began to tremble. “You aren’t invincible, Drake, so get over yourself. I know you can die, and you shall.”
There was a brief pause, and then Drake’s voice returned, sounding muted and distant. “Ask the sister, dear girl. I’m busy with a call just now.” He was back a moment later. “Oh, someday, when I’ve tired of everything, perhaps. But not from you, Nicholas. You haven’t got what it takes. So come alone, unless of course you wish for this to all end badly. I have followed the rules, and I expect you to do the same. Not my fault you lost your taste for blood, now, is it?” He chuckled, and Nick barely restrained himself from smashing the phone down on the counter. “Well, that should be enough time, don’t you think, Ms. Rutledge? Tsk-tsk if you dropped the ball on this one. See you soon, Nicholas. I am looking forward to it.”
The phone went dead, and Nick clapped it shut, shoving it back into his pocket. “Oh, I’m sure you are, you little prick.”
Jackie was already on her own phone, having listened to most of the conversation by leaning up next to Nick’s ear. He could still smell the clean scent of her hair.
“Did they get it?” Her mouth scrunched up in disgust at the reply. “Almost? Fuck! What do you mean almost? Where?” She shook her head. “Fine, whatever. Just keep everyone out of the area until we track down his location. I’ll contact you then.” She slammed the phone down on the counter. “God, I work with idiots, I swear.”
“It’s okay. It’ll be enough. What area?”
“Wicker Park,” she said. “That going to be good enough?”
“It will be. Drake leaves nothing to chance. He figured you might not narrow his location down exactly, so he gave us a clue.”
“He did?”
Her forehead wrinkled up between her eyebrows, a cute trait Nick had failed to notice before. There was more and more about this woman he found appealing. Kissing her may have been a mistake, he realized. He had wanted to know, though, figuring it might be the only chance he would ever get to see, and he had been right: It had not been mostly Shelby.
“Did you hear when Drake moved away from the phone? It was hard to make out.”
Jackie nodded. “I couldn’t make out what he said.”
“He said ‘ask the sister.’”
“A church?” She looked stunned. “The fucker has been hiding out in a church?” She picked her phone back up to dial downtown.
“Jackie, keep them away. Seriously,” Nick said, laying a hand on her arm. “They get close, and the girl is dead. There is no sneaking up here.”
She nodded. “I know. Gamble! I need church addresses in that area you gave, and keep everyone out. If anyone is in the area, get them out now. I’ll let you know more when we get over there. Call me with addresses when you get them.” She shoved the phone into her pocket. “Ready to go, Nick?”
“Yeah.” He found himself smirking at her again. This woman, whom he sensed being on the verge of quaking in her boots, didn’t think twice about jumping into the jaws of death. He wanted to kiss her again for luck.
“What? What’s with the look?”
“Nothing important. Let’s go get this done.”
Chapter 52
They were in her Durango, and Jackie could not get comfortable riding shotgun in her own car. On a casual drive, perhaps, but they were heading toward a confrontation with something more and less than human, and not being behind the wheel tugged on the strings of control. The closer they got, the more nervous she became, which was very unlike her. When did she ever get nervous chasing down the bad guys? She never even thought about it, but now it began weighing on her with each passing second. This was no ordinary bad guy. The guy could take them out quicker than she could down three shots.
“Why a church?” she wondered. “Crosses and holy water are yet another myth, I take it?”
“And we like garlic, too. Go figure,” Nick said with a smile.
“Smart-ass.”
He shrugged, whipped around a pair of cars using the emergency lane, and clocked her Durango up to a hundred on an open stretch of freeway. A light rain was falling, and Jackie swore they were going to hydroplane at any moment. “That goes without saying, I suppose.”
Gamble called back a moment later and began to run through a list of possible churches in the area. On the fourth one, Nick stopped her.