Operation (18 page)

“What happened?”

“Basically I got even,” she simply said.

“What did you do?” asked Reese.

“Not yet,” she said, “I’m not ready to tell you all of it. In a way it’s similar to your own predicament: If I tell you, it puts you in jeopardy. Later, we’ll see.”

An uncomfortable silence fell between the two for several seconds. Finally Reese spoke. “Well, it seems like we both have some interesting skeletons rattling around in our closets.”

“You can say that again,” she agreed.

“Seems like we both have some interesting skeletons rattling around in our closets,” he repeated and quickly received a playful slap on the arm.

“Cute!” she said.

“I try,” he said as he reached out to her, drawing her close and hugging her.

“We’re so much alike in a way,” he said.

“Yes, John,” she agreed. “We both have our monsters that pursue us. But I think we can help each other rid ourselves of them if we try.”

“You think?”

“Yes John, I do.”

“Well I guess we’ll have to see about that,” he said.

A gentle beeping sound reminded Reese that the coffee was done.

“Want some?” he asked.

“No, I’m fine.”

They separated from their embrace and Reese grabbed a cup from the cupboard. He poured himself a large cup of coffee and after adding his sugar and cream, his eyes meandered to the clock. It was almost 5AM.

“I’m going to have to go soon,” he said. “About thirty minutes.”

“Already? How time flies,” then she added, “so many things to do and learn about us as individuals, and everything else around us.”

“That’s profound,” he said. He meant it as a joke, but the words slipped him back to reality with the truth they contained.

As he sipped his coffee he remembered that Christina had mentioned something earlier when they had talked on the phone, something to tell him about his research, which he had forgotten completely about. He decided to bring it up seeing as how they could use some other line of conversation.

“Well, now that we have cleared the air a little, you said earlier you had something interesting to tell me about my research?”

“I do,” she said, “the one area that I thought you were lacking in your book.”

“Lacking? What?”

“Information about female vampires, she said, “I happen to know some things about them that you might be interested in.”

“And how did you come up with this information?” he asked.

“Ah…I have my sources,” she said in the jokingly stuffy manner of an old professor.

“Well, spill,” he said.

“Why don’t we save it for later,” she said. “I want to have your full attention with this because once I start, you’re going to want me to finish.”

“Aw…teasing me ?”

“No, John, not teasing,” she said and paused. “Well maybe. I have to keep you interested in me, don’t I? A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.”

For a moment, Reese felt his body flush with the embarrassment of the thought that she was serious. “You don’t think that all of this is about, you know, me getting material for my work?”

“Oh, John,” she said, “if only you could see the look on your face—it’s priceless. You look like the little kid who got caught with their hand in the cookie jar. I was just joking!”

She went up to him and placed her hands along the sides of his face. “I think we have a lot more in common than just history and myths. Don’t you think?”

“Yeah. I really do think so,” he agreed.

“Oh John,” she said wistfully, “Trust me, okay? I’m here with you because I choose to be, okay?”

She kissed him before he could say anything in response. After a few seconds she backed away from him, “Now you go get changed for work. Go put on that uniform that drives the women crazy. I’m going home.”

“Tomorrow?” he asked.

“You bet, just call me. You’ll know where I’ll be,” she said as she walked to the front door. “And don’t forget to get this fixed,” she said.

“What?” Reese said from the bedroom. By the time he came back out she had already gone. What did she say—get it fixed? Get what fixed? His eyes fell upon the door and then the doorknob. He reached out and turned it and it felt weird. He tried the lock mechanism and it would not engage. The lock was broken.

“When the hell did that happen?”

C
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IVE

Christina hopped onto Interstate 64. She accelerated up to seventy miles per hour while she reminded herself that she needed to get one of those wrist watches with an alarm clock. During their intense evening together, she had forgotten about the time. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to find herself stranded somewhere and not be able to get home before the sun came up. Fortunately at this hour and given the direction of her travel, traffic was virtually non-existent and she didn’t expect any problems that would delay her arrival at the abandoned base in Driver.

Christina was actually quite proud of herself. She had shown restraint with John and yet she had opened up to him more than any other man she had ever known. But she knew that they still had a long way to go. She would have to tell him, at some point, the tiny detail of her being a vampire. She was one of the creatures that fascinated him and terrorized his sleep. Although they had joked about it, she wondered if he would be able to accept her as a person, rather than just a specimen to study. And there was the other vampire; her primary motive for seeking Reese out to begin with. She was both exhilarated and somewhat hesitant after learning that John feared them for some reason.

It wasn’t until she merged onto Interstate 664, that she felt she was being followed. She watched the headlights of the half dozen cars that were around her, but was unable to tell anything by them. She thought that perhaps she was overreacting. This stretch of road was always busy, people heading toward the Monitor Merrimac tunnel and access to many different areas of Tidewater. Still there was that annoying feeling and she decided to take no chances and follow her usual driving pattern as she always did—just in case.

As she exited the Interstate in Chesapeake, she proceeded on Portsmouth Boulevard toward Driver. When she reached the town, she began her evasive trek through the dark and seldom traveled back roads. There was one set of headlights that seemed to be moving in her same direction, but she wasn’t sure.

The streets in this area were so seldom used that anyone would know in a matter of minutes if they were being followed. The solitary set of headlights that were behind her faded into the blackness. After a few turns that led her back to the main road, she emerged alone. There she sat for a few minutes to be sure and after no one else came, she proceeded to the base.

There was a large chained gate for the fence that encircled the compound. To open it, Christina would have to stop and unlock it, enter and then relock the gate. Despite her vampire speed, it would still take several minutes to accomplish. During this time, the possibility of being spotted by people in the few homes outside of the gate was highly likely even at this early hour. Most of the residents of the local area were older and their sleeping hours erratic she had discovered. To avoid being seen, she parked in an adjoining ball field parking lot and walked through the woods to a section of fence that could not be seen from the road. Christina scaled the fence with no difficulty, and walked the rest of the way inside the base to her compound entrance.

It was her habit to watch the black sky begin its transformation to gray before she entered her underground world. It was the closest she ever came to seeing the sun before it rose above the horizon. Sometimes Jake would stand with her and they would talk about the years which had gone by.

This morning as she stopped outside of the entrance, she knew she couldn’t stay long; the sky had already changed into the familiar shade of gray that she knew meant not much of the night was left.

“You’re late,” a voice she recognized said.

“Hello, Jake,” she said. “I know. I lost track of time. What are you doing up?”

Jake moved out of the shadows, his form slightly bent and his steps somewhat unsure from the arthritis that plagued them. He held a coffee cup in his hand. It was hot and she could see the steam of the vapor rising from it.

He’s getting old, she thought. He won’t be around much longer.

“I couldn’t sleep,” he answered. “I was worried something had happened to you.”

“You’re so good to me, Jake,” she said. “But you have to remember I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself.”

“I know that,” he said sharply. “But after you almost killed me the other night, I’m not so sure you’re keeping your mind on what you’re doing. I’ve not known you to get distracted so easily before, so it must be something important. Something more important than me or my life.”

“Stop it, Jake,” she pleaded. “I was distracted that night…something from the past. I’ve been discovering things about myself lately.”

“So I see,” he said. “I just wonder where I fit into all of this.”

Christina didn’t want to address this issue now. She wanted to sleep and think about it and maybe talk with him tomorrow. “Jake, it’s late,” she said. “The sun will be up and I need to go. Can we please talk about this later?”

Jake didn’t answer as he stared off into the brightening horizon.

Christina turned from him and went down the entrance into the underground base. She went into her bedroom and sealed it for the day.

As she crawled into bed, her thoughts refused to turn away from what she did not want to face; the breaking off of her relationship with Jake. Over the years she had used men to get what she needed. She took their blood by promising them what they desired, immortality. Jake had not been an exception. She had created desire within his mind based upon the image of love that she had given him. But all that had now changed with her epiphany. But still, she had to deal with Jake. She had promised him immortality and a life with her – all the while without any intention of actually fulfilling that promise.

After so many years of their mutual relationship she could sense the feelings he had displayed moments before, as well as the inner frustrations he was feeling right at this moment. She had never been concerned with human emotions, considering them pitiful and pointless. But now not only did she feel his anger and sorrow, she understood them as well. It made it harder to turn away as she had always done before.

Although the choices were relatively few; she could just leave him, she could turn him, or she could kill him, Christina did not want to think about it any longer tonight. His overflow of emotions confused and cluttered her thinking. She decided to withdraw from their mutual connection. She would sleep and then address the issue tomorrow when she could think more clearly. She focused her thoughts on their connection and neatly severed it.

Soon she drifted off into restful sleep.

C
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IX

Jake remained standing where Christina had left him watching the sun as it peeked over the horizon. He could feel the warmth of its rays upon his face along with the moisture from the tears that rolled freely down his cheeks.

Jake took the last bit of coffee into his mouth and then violently threw the cup against one of the trees. The ceramic cup bounced off of the tree, but shattered when it hit the ground striking a rock. The adrenaline of his anger made him feel years younger, but it didn’t stop the hurt.

He needed to get away for awhile both from here and from her. He walked quickly through the woods toward the parking area near the ball field where Christina had entered. Instead of scaling the fence, which he could not do at his age, he unlocked one of the smaller gates and walked through. As he entered into the parking lot clearing, he saw a man standing next to the car he and Christina shared.

Jake watched as the man removed a slim jim from under his jacket and used it to jimmy the door open. The man slipped inside the car and began examining the contents of the glove box and everything else that was lying on the seats. He obviously wasn’t there to steal the car, Jake thought, or he would have done it by now. Besides, he just didn’t look like the type that did that sort of thing. He was neatly dressed in a suit and appeared to be around forty or forty-five. But even given that, what the hell did he think he was doing?

Jake, his anger already at a high level from his earlier confrontation with Christina, thought about returning to the underground base to get her and let her deal with this problem, but he knew she couldn’t come out in the daylight. Besides, he’d had had enough of her for one night and a confrontation with some asshole breaking into his car might be just what he needed right now. He reached into his back pocket and felt the reassuring weight of the knife he had carried for more years then he cared to remember. He closed the distance between himself and the intruder as quickly as his legs would allow him. When he was alongside the car he confronted the man, keeping one hand on that pocket that contained his knife.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” asked Jake, his voice loud and threatening.

The man, surprised by Jake’s appearance, nevertheless reacted calmly by reaching for something under his coat. “I’m getting my identification,” the man said. “Don’t do anything rash, okay?”

“You make sure you only have an ID in your hand. I have a gun,” Jake lied, “and how about you back slowly out of the car.”

With his back still to Jake, the man produced a large black wallet and handed it to him. “I’m Special Agent Barrett, FBI,” he said as he got out of the vehicle, “Is this your car?”

“Yeah, it is. You mind telling me what you’re doing inside of it?” Jake took the man’s wallet but still had not opened it. He kept his eyes fixed upon the man that stood only a few feet away from him. He was a tall man, probably about six foot or so and went about hundred and eighty pounds. He had a fair complexion which contrasted with his dark black hair flecked with gray strands. His face was pot marked and scarred as if he had been in some kind of accident. But it was his eyes that gave Jake an uneasy feeling; they were the kind Jake despised, small and beady as if the eye fairy hadn’t finished them. “What did you say your name was?” asked Jake.