Vamparazzi (47 page)

“She didn't die for
that
. She died because I'm a vampire, and it's what I
do,
baby.”

“You were doing this in Hollywood, too, weren't you?” I blurted as the realization hit me.

“Things got a little hot there. It was time to leave. That jerk Novicki followed me here.
Persistent
bastard, but I took care of him.” He grinned, and it was disturbing to see that familiar, cheesy, tabloid reporter's grin on this brutally amoral killer's face.

“How did you become a vampire?” I asked, wondering if he was an example of why the council was so stingy with permits.

“Born that way. Really didn't get into it that much until I turned forty, though.” He added with a guffaw, “What is that? A mid-unlife crisis?”

Rachel continued wailing loudly as I said, “Can I just say, Al? A vampire becomes a tabloid writer? And here I thought
Daemon
was a walking cliché!”

“Just going with my strengths.” He said with nauseating enthusiasm, “Hey, as long as you know about Novicki, which is something I don't really get to talk about, can I just say? Killing a
vampire hunter?
What a rush! And the blood?
Amazing.
” He added after a pause, “To be honest, though, once was enough. They're tough guys to kill. So I'd prefer if this one would just go back to Vilnius without bothering me. But if not ... we'll see what happens.”

“Do you think you can keep doing this and the Council of Gediminas will just
allow
it?” I said incredulously. “You've made it worth their while to
end
you.”

“Hey, you do know a lot!” he said cheerfully. “That could be good. You know, it could be some common ground for us. Something for us to talk about.”

“And do you think the
cops
will just walk away from this?” I said.

“The cops think Daemon did it,” he said dismissively.

“Not all of them,” I said. “And
none
of them think he killed the other victims.”

Tarr went still. “What?”

“They're connecting the dots, Al.
Maybe,
if you got really lucky, you could've pinned
one
murder on some attention-seeking celebrity vampire.”

“Did I ever tell you how much I really didn't want this assignment?
Me,
covering that phony jerk
pretending
to be a vampire?”

“But the cat's out of the bag, and you're not clever enough to smear
all
your murders on Daemon.”

“You not making that up? The cops really know about the others? Shit.”

“Game over,” I said triumphantly.

“Not yet,” he pointed out. “I've still got my double-tasty treat to finish down here before I get the hell out of Dodge.”

“Your double-tasty . . . Oh, dear God.”

Rachel heard this exchange and responded accordingly. “We're gonna
die!
No, no,
no!
” The echoes bounced all over the chamber.

I started backing away from Tarr. “Or you could just flee now, Al. Killing two more people would slow you down. Is that really a good idea? After all, there are vampire hunters
and
a whole team of cops after you—”

“The cops got no idea about me, and no idea where you are,” Tarr said, his faintly illuminated expression eerily amused as he watched me sloshing backward, trying to put distance between us. “And the vampire hunters are gonna be slowed down for a while, with the cave-in down here and the stampeding vamparazzi everywhere else.” He chuckled. “Hey, I
love
that word, by the way. You're fun, Esther. I'll miss you.”

“Because you're getting out the hell of Dodge and we won't meet again?” I prodded, hoping for the best.

“I like you,” he said kindly. “So I'll try to make this quick.”

I was shocked by how fast he moved. One moment, he was about ten feet away; the next, his arms were wrapped tightly around me and he was breathing in my ear. The chamber went pitch black as my light fell out of my hand and into the water at my feet.

Rachel started screaming her head off. All out of other ideas, so did I. Trapped underground in total darkness, wrapped in the deadly embrace of someone who was a blood-addicted, murdering vampire
and
a tabloid leech, I pitched my screams with the deliberate intention of shattering Tarr's supersonic eardrums.

His whole short, stocky body stiffened, and for a moment, I thought maybe the combined screaming of two hysterically terrified women was more powerful than I had seriously hoped. But then he clamped a hand over my mouth, trying to shut me up, and I realized from his alert posture that he was listening to something.

“What the fuck
is
that?” He snapped at Rachel, “Shut up!” This had no effect of course. She kept screaming and wailing.

Since he evidently wanted us to be quiet, I—naturally—wanted to be as noisy as possible. He intended to kill me anyhow, so
not annoying
him seemed pretty pointless. I bit down as hard as I could on his hand, and although blood addiction had made him enhanced and powerful, it had not, I was pleased to discover, made him completely impervious to pain. He yelped and snatched his hand away. I started screaming again.

Tarr picked me up as easily as if I were a paperweight and threw me across the chamber. I flew through the dark, bounced hard off a stone wall, and then hit the cement floor of the tunnel with a lung-emptying thud. The filthy water didn't do much to break my fall, and I laid there, disoriented and gasping with pain, trying to figure out if anything was broken.

A moment later, Rachel's entire body weight fell on top of me with unerring accuracy, nearly making me pass out. That was when I realized that seeing in the dark was one of Tarr's enhancements.

I also realized I saw faint streams of light flashing through this chamber and, even above Rachel's shrieking, I heard voices echoing through the tunnels.

“Someone's down here!” I gasped, shoving at Rachel, trying to get her weight off me. “On this side of the cave-in. Someone's here! Help!
Help!
”

“Esther! Is that
you?
” called a blessedly familiar voice.

I was climbing to my feet in the dark, dragging Rachel with me. I couldn't see a thing except for the lights flashing around the chamber.

“Lopez!” I cried with relief. “Yes! I'm here! I'm
here!
” I clamped my hand over Rachel's mouth to stifle the noise of her wailing. “Lopez!

“I'm coming! Stay right where you are!”

He wasn't alone. Multiple lights were flashing into this chamber now, and I could hear a number of voices echoing along the tunnel where his voice came from.

I was huddling in terror with Rachel, expecting Tarr to pounce on us at any moment. But as the beams of light got stronger and the voices drew near, I realized that he must have decided to flee rather than stand and fight. And he could disappear much more quickly down here
without
dragging along a noisy hostage or two.

Emboldened by my conviction that our vampire captor had run off without us, I dragged Rachel with me and stepped into the beams of light now pouring into the chamber. I squinted and raised my hand to shield my stinging eyes as the flashlights shone directly on me. Sobbing, Rachel clutched me and huddled against me.

“Esther!”

Lopez ran the final length of the tunnel he was in, then sloshed quickly through the water of this chamber, his headlamp beaming in my face. With Rachel still clinging to me, I staggered into his arms, and—by default—he embraced us both. I clutched him tightly, digging my fingers into the fabric of the sweater he wore.

“Are you okay?” he asked against my hair.

I nodded, feeling too emotional to speak for a moment.

That was really,
really
close.

I had nearly been the next exsanguination victim.

Four more men entered the chamber. I lifted my head and took a look at them. They were uniformed cops, carrying flashlights.

I found my voice. “Oh, thank God.”

Rachel switched from clinging to me to clinging to Lopez. She sobbed against his chest and hugged him tightly around the waist—elbowing me out of her way to get a better grip.

“Do I know her?” Lopez asked me uncertainly.

“Mad Rachel.”

“Whoa.” Apparently he hadn't recognized her. Given her horror-movie appearance right now, and the fact that they'd only met once before, that was understandable. “What
happened
to you two? What are you doing here?”

“What are
you
doing here?” His presence seemed miraculous.

“I heard what's happening at the Hamburg.
Everybody
heard. The whole block is a madhouse above ground,” he said. “I thought we could get inside faster and help out if I brought in a few cops through the basement—since you haven't had that door sealed yet, Esther.”

“Is this really the time to criticize me for that?” I said shrilly.

He grinned and hugged me again—using the arm Rachel had left free. “Since you made your escape that way, I stand corrected.”

“We didn't just escape,” I said urgently. “We wound up as hostages!”

He looked bemused. “What?”

“Al Tarr is the killer! He was just here! I think he ran off a minute ago when he heard you coming.”

“Tarr's
here?
” Lopez quickly set aside Rachel, ignoring her shrieks of protest and fervent attempt to cling to him, and handed her over to an officer who accepted her with noticeable reluctance. “Where is he?”

“I don't know.”

Lopez took my shoulders and spoke calmly. “There are only two tunnels here besides the one we just came in. Did you see which way—Oh, no, of course not. Were you able to
hear
which way he went?”

“No, I didn't.” I was panting with a riot of agitated emotions. But his firm hold on my shoulders and his calm voice brought my careening thoughts into focus. “Wait! I think I know. The tunnel that goes near the theater caved in a little while ago. Almost on top of me, actually.”

“Jesus.”
His grip tightened.

“Tarr knows that. He wouldn't go that way. It's a trap now.”

Lopez gave my shoulders a squeeze, then said to the four men. “We've got him. He must have gone that way.” He gestured to the remaining tunnel. “And it's a dead end.”

“What?” I blurted. “You're sure?”

“Yep. Sealed off a long time ago.” He pointed at two of the men—including the one already burdened with Rachel. “You two, get these ladies out of here. And you two—” He gestured to the other two. “On me. Let's bring this guy in.”

“
No!
Wait!” I grabbed him. “Lopez, he's very dangerous!”

“I know.” He firmly set me away from him. “It'll be all right, Esther. Go with the officers now.”

“No, you don't know!
Really
dangerous! No! Don't go!
No!
”

I spiraled into hysterics at the prospect of Lopez confronting a cornered rogue vampire.

The cop who'd been assigned to escort me out of here was, in fact, forcibly restraining me and dragging me through the exit tunnel as Lopez and two cops went after Tarr down the dead-end tunnel.

“No! You don't know what you're dealing with!” Bullets wouldn't work. Lopez didn't know that! While being dragged to safety, I kept screaming, “Fire or decapitation! Nothing else will work! Fire or decapitation!”

“Miss, you must calm down!” said the beleaguered cop who was restraining me.

Realizing there was no other choice, I went limp in his arms.

The cop relaxed and said in a relieved voice, “Thank you, miss. Now let's get you out of here, and—Agh!”

I poked him in the eye—just enough to disorient him. Then I grabbed his flashlight, saying, “Sorry, sorry, sorry!” I ran back down the tunnel, tripping on my long skirts, and re-entered the chamber he'd dragged me out of moments ago.

I had no idea how we could manage either of those things now, down here, without a vampire hunter; but I at least had to warn Lopez that nothing else would work.

I ran across the main chamber, sloshing through the water, my long skirts dragging on me. Then I entered the dead-end tunnel, which curved around and turned a corner up ahead. Even with a good flashlight in my hand now, I couldn't see any of the men who were somewhere up ahead of me. I staggered forward as fast as I could move, slipping on the damp brick floor in my flimsy, ruined shoes, my legs tangling with my long, wet skirts.

I heard two shots fired and a lot of shouting coming from farther down this tunnel. There was a horrible roaring sound, like an explosion. I paused, and then I heard Lopez's voice—heading back in this direction.

“Move!” he shouted.
“Move!”

A bright glow emerged ahead of me—and Lopez and the two cops appeared, all racing straight toward me, trying to outrun the wall of fire that was right behind them, spreading fast in this direction.

I stopped in my tracks and stared, dumbfounded.

“Run! Go!
Go!
” Lopez was shouting at me.

I turned to run back the way I had come, my wet skirts a burden, my slippers sliding on the bricks. Then something heavy hit me like a speeding train, and I went flying headfirst into the central chamber, where I landed facedown in the water ... with Lopez's entire body weight on top of me as he shielded me from the fiery blast that roared into the chamber over our heads and then withdrew.