‘Vampires?’
Gascoigne looked perplexed. ‘You really want to know?’
Joel nodded.
‘Well, apparently, the reason he crashed his car was because he was running away from a vampire lair that he and his girlfriend stumbled on. She was taken by them, needless to say.’
Joel frowned. ‘Not reported missing, though.’
Gascoigne shook her head. ‘Course not, sir. Tucked up safely in bed at home in Wallingford. I talked to the parents myself.’
Joel nodded thoughtfully. Hallowe’en and ecstasy pills. A lethal combo for an overactive imagination. The drug was well known for its ability to produce all manner of wild hallucinations. But still, the mention of vampires had pricked up his ears.
And sent a tingle down his back, too. It was ridiculous, but he couldn’t fight back his curiosity. ‘Do we have him in custody?’
‘I wouldn’t waste my time on it, sir. He’s spent the night in the JR.’ JR was what Oxford locals called the John Radcliffe hospital. ‘Probably be out sometime today, if he gets the all-clear. Then all he has to worry about is whether we’re going to book the silly sod for drug driving or just for possession.’
‘What’s his name?’
‘Declan Maddon. But like I said, sir, I wouldn’t waste time on it.’
VIA HQ, London
The sun was slowly rising over the city as Alex and Harry Rumble finished her debriefing. She stood up and walked over to the window. Watching the orange glow of the sunrise creeping across the skyline made her think of her Solazal. She quickly reached into the back pocket of her jeans and slipped out the tube. Popped a tablet in her mouth and felt it sizzle sweetly on her tongue.
Rumble leaned back in his chair, took another worried glance at his screen and then shuffled some notes on his desk.
‘Anyway, whatever the hell’s happening, VIA business goes on as usual. Another job’s come in for you.’
She turned away from the window, chewing the Solazal tablet. ‘I just got back from Romania, Harry.’
‘This is just routine. Shouldn’t take long. Are you carrying?’
‘Just my backup.’ She flipped back her coat to reveal the stainless steel, short-barrelled .44 Magnum Smith & Wesson riding behind her right hip.
‘You call that thing a backup piece?’ Rumble handed her a sheet of official VIA notepaper from his desk. She snatched it from his hand, scanning the words with quick green eyes. The name on the sheet was Baxter Burnett.
‘The movie star?’
Rumble nodded.
‘I didn’t even know he was one of ours,’ Alex said.
‘He was turned back in the late sixties, but it wasn’t until the nineties that he got bored and tried his hand at acting. It turned out the big moron had talent.’
‘I should have guessed. I’ve been watching his movies for years and he’s never aged a day.’
‘Yes, well, that’s exactly the problem,’ Rumble said. ‘We can’t allow him to go on drawing attention to himself. I want you and Greg to go and have a word. Nothing too strong. Just refresh his understanding of the situation.’
Alex blinked. ‘Excuse me? And who is Greg?’
‘I should have mentioned it,’ Rumble said with a sly grin. ‘Greg Shriver. That’s Lieutenant Greg Shriver, formerly US Marines, just flown in. Your new partner.’
She groaned. ‘Don’t do this to me. I work alone, for fuck’s sake.’
Rumble gave her a stern look. ‘Hey. Don’t give me that “I work alone” crap. There isn’t an agent on this team I cut more slack to, but even you shouldn’t push it.’
‘Jesus Christ, Harry.’
‘He’s a fresh recruit, so he’s going to be a little raw. Show him the ropes, train him up. I know he’ll learn fast, and he’ll be learning from the best. I’m counting on you, all right?’ Rumble slid a file across the desk at her. ‘Read it. He’s good material for us.’
Alex flipped through it. Like all vampires, she could read ten times faster than a human. ‘And when do I get to meet wonder boy?’
‘Right now.’ Rumble stabbed a button on his phone and talked to the speaker. ‘Jen, show him in, will you?’
A few seconds later Rumble’s secretary, Jen Minto, ushered the new recruit into the office. Greg Shriver was about thirty-five, lean, dark and extremely nervous-looking as he walked in.
Alex stuck out her hand as her boss introduced them.
‘Special Agent Alex Bishop.’
When they shook hands, she noticed that his palm felt a little damp with sweat. Some very fresh vampires retained those kinds of human attributes for a while.
‘They tell me you and I are going to be working together,’ Greg said.
‘Yup. Lucky me.’
‘Baxter’s taken the Trafalgar Suite at the Ritz while he’s in town promoting the new Berserker movie,’ Rumble said. ‘He’s expecting you, but you’d best get going.’
‘Is that Berserker 6?’ Alex said. ‘I saw the fifth one. Complete piece of shit.’
‘Did you see him in Raptus, though?’ Rumble said. ‘Now that was a pretty damn good movie.’
‘We’re going to see Baxter Burnett?’ Greg asked, wide-eyed.
‘Let’s move, new blood,’ Alex said.
Back down in the car park behind the S&S building, Alex bleeped the locks of her black Jag XKR. She slipped into the driver’s seat and Greg got in beside her. He moved like an overgrown puppy, clumsy and too full of energy, and slammed the door so hard it made the glass shake.
She threw him a hard look. ‘Break my car, I’ll slice your head off.’
‘Sorry,’ he muttered. ‘I keep forgetting how strong I am now. Like the night-vision thing, too. I feel pretty weird, still kind of dazed.’
‘That’s hardly surprising,’ Alex said, allowing him a smile. ‘One minute you’re getting on fine with your human life, the next thing some vampire’s sticking their teeth in you. Kind of changes things.’ She started the car and pulled away aggressively, the acceleration pressing them back in the leather seats.
‘That how it was for you?’ he asked.
‘Etiquette lesson one. You never ask anyone how they turned. Unless it’s me, your superior, asking you.’
He mumbled an apology.
‘What’s that accent? Tennessee?’
‘Raised in Memphis. You’re good.’
‘I’ve done a lot of moving around in the last century or so,’ she said. ‘But never mind my story.’ She glanced sideways at him. His shirt was open three buttons, and she could see the slim chain around his neck and the pressed tin tags nestling against his chest. ‘Love the dog tags.’
He reached up and touched them. ‘Keepsake, I guess.’
‘So