"Can we help you, sir?" Thompson stood back far enough to give Greer enough room to enter the smallish office.
"Actually, you can. Would you mind if I sat?" He entered the room taking Thompson's recently vacated seat.
"What do you need, sir?" I tried to keep the suspicion out of my voice. That didn't work out so well.
"You always get right to the point. I like that about you, Ashlyn. Let me be blunt. The master of San Diego has agreed to fly in tonight to show her support of my election and attend the Governor's Ball. I gave my oath that nothing would happen to her. What I need from the FBI is her protection. Could you meet her at the airport and make sure she arrives here safely?"
I looked at Thompson and could see the disbelief in his eyes. "How are we supposed to protect you if we're out playing taxi service?"
"I'll go," I offered. I couldn't believe the words flew out of my mouth without me stopping them. I knew the reason though. I had indirectly caused the death of one master. I'd been called in to see the body of another. I'd also been standing in front of another when he'd been blown to literal pieces. If I could stop just one more death from happening besides the governor, maybe this detail wouldn't be a total loss.
"Thank you," Greer said.
"Excuse me?" Thompson's question came out at the same time.
"I'll do it. You stay here and finish the prep work. You have a ton more experience than I do, and I'm better at keeping my ass alive. It'll be okay, big guy. I'll be back before you miss me." I finished with a little smile. Thompson didn't return it.
"Fine, do you have the details of her flight?" Thompson turned to Greer.
"She is arriving at the Sacramento airport in little over an hour. Here's the flight plan. Esperanza Garcia Ramirez will be arriving via private jet at my hangar. At least you can avoid the traffic at the terminal. She will have two guests with her. Would you mind using the limousine?"
"Yes. I'm taking my SUV. I don't know how to drive your limo and I don't trust anybody I don't know with safety right now. I drive, I keep us safe."
"I guess you're right, agent. Thank you."
"My pleasure, sir."
* * *
We pulled out of the hangar in silence. I think Miss Ramirez felt a little snubbed that she had to ride in a lowly sports utility vehicle rather than a posh limousine. I didn't care. She took an immediate dislike to the lowly vampire agent of the FBI and decided to give me the cold shoulder. I made faces when she wasn't looking.
"Why did Greer not come and meet me himself?" Esperanza finally broke the silence once we hit the highway.
"His duties as governor kept him away, but he sends his apologies. I hope your flight was acceptable, Miss Ramirez." I smiled and did a little dance in the front seat. I was getting good at being polite!
"Dreary, but acceptable. Please hurry to our hotel. I am in need of a bath after traveling."
The incredulous look I gave her in the rear view mirror probably saved our lives. The headlights flying up on us were traveling too fast to be a coincidence. I gave the big SUV a little gas and made an unplanned right hand turn just to be certain. The road we turned onto led back to the airport and looked more like a service road than an actual street. There wouldn't be a reason in the world for the car behind us to turn unless they were following us.
"Fuck," I said when the headlights reappeared. I picked up my cell and speed dialed Thompson.
"Don't tell me, you've been attacked," Thompson said from the other end of the line.
"That depends. Did you send somebody to escort us to the hotel by chance?"
"No. Why? What's going on?"
"I have an unidentified car following us."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. Track the GPS in my cell. I'm hanging up now."
"Got it, help is on the way in minutes."
I clicked the end button and put the phone in a compartment in the center console. If we wrecked, I wanted it as safe as possible. I reached over and grabbed the seatbelt I
never
used and clicked it into place. "Buckle up," I told my passengers who had been listening intently to my conversation with Thompson. At least they listened.
I slowed down and made like I planned on pulling over to the shoulder of the road. I kept an eye on the vehicle behind us and as they closed the distance between us. I gunned the engine and gave the wheel a yank to the left. Not flipping a sports utility vehicle is difficult. Not flipping a full size Suburban is about fucking impossible. I managed to keep it from rolling, but I didn't keep all four wheels on the ground. Usually vampires and other supernatural beings are pretty fearless, especially as far as car wrecks are concerned. Unless the car exploded, the chances of a vampire dying in a car accident are slim to none. That didn't stop my passengers from giving little screams of surprise as I pulled a fast hundred and eighty degree turn.
As soon as we were safely facing the opposite direction, I gunned the engine. All eight cylinders pumped as fast as they could. Three-quarters of a ton of steel accelerates pretty slowly, even with the finest of internal combustion engines pushing it. I turned and stared at the passengers of the strange vehicle as they sped past us. Every one of them stared at us in shock. I could make out the driver and a passenger in the front seat, and three others in the back. All doubts that they were following us vanished when they spun their vehicle in an almost identical move I pulled off. Because they fishtailed on the shoulder of the road, slipping on the loose gravel, it bought us a few more precious seconds as they fought to gain traction. By the time they started seriously accelerating; I'd almost pushed the Suburban to top speed, barreling down the highway like a mini semi-tractor trailer. I needed to install one of those air horn thingies. A good, solid
Bwa Bwaaa
would have done a lot for my nerves right then.
The lead I'd gained over our friends in the lighter SUV didn't last long. Once I made our way back to the main road, their headlights reappeared in my rear view mirror. I couldn't push the accelerator any closer to the floorboard, so I did the next best thing. I slammed on the brakes. The Suburban's tires screeched against the asphalt and the whole vehicle shuddered. Anti-lock brakes, my ass. I fought against the steering wheel as the mass of metal fought to fish tail out of control. The guys behind me weren't so lucky. They fishtailed and missed my rear bumper by inches as they swerved around me to avoid a collision.
I let off the brakes and gunned it. I felt a small feral smile creep onto my lips as I came to the realization that my headlights were now in
their
rear view mirror. I must have been a little smarter than they were. I remembered to turn on my high beams. The twin shafts of illumination filled the smaller SUV and the heads of the five occupants became visible. I saw the three in the back seat turn and glare at me menacingly, showing their fangs in the process. I smiled back, until the front passenger pointed a small cylindrical tube out the window and braced it on top of his shoulder.
I'd been standing in front of the master of Los Angeles when he'd been hit by an anti-personnel rocket. I really didn't want to be in a SUV that got hit by one. I saw him pull the trigger and the rocket launched straight at the front of the Suburban. I muttered a quick, "Oh, fuck," and spun the wheel frantically. The SUV spun ninety degrees and tilted over on its side just as the rocket impacted. We took the hit to the roof instead of the engine block. I didn't know if that was a good thing or not.
Fire filled the Suburban as we skidded to a stop. The concussion from the explosion had been minimal. I heard the
boom,
but the impact from the roof had set off the detonation. I thanked whoever might be listening that it hadn't pierced the roof and exploded inside the vehicle. Fire I could deal with. Being exploded might be a tad more difficult. Suddenly the expression
pull yourself together
took on a whole new meaning.
I spun in my seat and looked at my passengers. They were on fire. I mean that literally. Not only did their clothes burn, but they appeared flammable as well. This day just kept getting better and better.
I forgot I had actually used my seatbelt for once and got a sharp reminder when I tried to kick open the passenger door. Mine would have been easier if the vehicle hadn't landed driver's side down. I quickly unbuckled and tried again with better results. By the time I made it out into the relatively (relative to the temperature inside the vehicle) cool air, my passengers screams had reached almost unbearable levels. I stood atop the Suburban and reached down and ripped off the door separating them from me. The blast of air magnified the flames and I reached in and grabbed the first of Esperanza's entourage.
The tall blonde female vampire fought against my hand at first and then realized I was trying to help. She grasped my wrist and I pulled. When she flew up through the mangled door I frowned that she hadn't followed my advice about wearing her seatbelt. My frown dissipated when I came to the realization that right at that moment, it might have been a good thing she hadn't. Once I had her on the roof next to me she jumped off and started rolling around on the ground to put out the flames engulfing her.
Since Esperanza had been seated between the two female vampires of her group, I pulled her out next. She didn't seem as flammable as the other two and maintained her composure as I pulled her out.
Time wasn't on our side. I needed to get the last vampire out of the vehicle before the flames ignited the gas tank. Once Esperanza made it safely to the ground, I knelt down to reach into the Suburban and pull the last vampire out. As soon as my hand closed around the cool flesh of hers, the suburban exploded.
Flames licked my flesh as the vampire I'd been trying to save disintegrated in a ball of fire below me. One moment, I had her hand in mine, and the next it crumbled into nothingness. She didn't even have time to scream. I didn't have time to scream as the force of the explosion hurled me into the air with the force of some sort of medieval catapult. I saw everything below me as I completed the apex of my arc. I could see the other two vampires lying on the asphalt with their hands over their heads.
At least I saved the master.
My thought came as I started descending rapidly toward the hard earth.
I tried landing on my feet, but gravity had a different plan. I landed on my back with a resounding
crunch.
I didn't lose consciousness, but the pain wracked my body so bad I almost wished for sweet oblivion. Slowly, the pain ebbed and I rolled over onto my knees. Spasms and the feeling of bones re-knitting themselves together still made it impossible to stand, so I crawled toward the flickering oranges and reds of the blazing SUV. About mid-way I felt well enough to stand and slowly walk. About three quarters of the way back I had healed enough to run. By the time I got back, Sacramento's best had arrived and were frantically radioing for medical services. I fished out my FBI badge before walking up. One of the officers standing by the open door of his cruiser talking into his radio spotted me first. I held out my badge and he dropped the radio and trotted over to me.
"Are you okay?" He looked me over. With the amount of burn holes in my new outfit, I couldn't blame him. I needed to invest in some fireproof clothes. I wondered briefly if they sold those at the mall.
"I'm fine; the blast threw me over into the field."
"I'm sorry, what did you say?"
"The blast threw me into the field . . ."
"And you're fine?"
"Yeah, I'm a supe," I said and left it at that. I walked past him and over to the master of San Diego. Three officers stood nervously around her and her remaining companion with their guns drawn and pointed squarely at their chests. "Officers, these vampires are with me," I said and showed them my badge. They didn't look impressed. "Is there a problem?"
"No, ma'am," one of them said and finally holstered his weapon. I noticed he was the only one without a flattop. I briefly wondered if there might be a correlation between haircuts and intelligence quotients.
"Thank you, officer . . ."
"Drake, ma'am," he supplied.
"Officer Drake, would you mind giving me and my friends a few moments?"
"No, ma'am, we'll be right over there," he said politely and motioned with his head toward the ring of police cars a good distance from the blazing Suburban.
"Are you okay, Miss Ramirez?"
"Considering the circumstances, youngling, I'm fine. I wish Daria were alive, but I understand you did all you could to save her. Thank you, agent."
I nodded at her and looked at the burning rubble that used to be my vehicle. I remembered my cell phone tucked safely away in the center console. I imagined a little piece of burnt plastic and glass and vowed to keep it on me next time. It might have made it. Hopefully, I would too.
The sound of emergency sirens in the distance drew my attention from the bonfire. I could see the red and white lights getting closer with each passing second. We probably wouldn't need the ambulance, but at least they could put out the fire. Hopefully, they had a brush truck with them. I doubted there were any fire hydrants in the middle of nowhere.
They pulled up in a flurry of well-practiced movement. The firefighters grabbed hoses and immediately started dousing my blackened black Suburban with water. The EMT's grabbed their gear and gave me and my passengers a quick once-over. I heard more than one muffled, "Vampires," coming from whispering lips as they realized their services wouldn't be needed. I actually laughed at one of them when they pulled out a blood-pressure cuff. He gave a self-depreciating smile and put it away, quickly.
The crunching of gravel under tires behind me made me look over my shoulder. I could see Thompson through his windshield. He looked less than happy as he took in the scene. I smiled and gave him a little wave. He gave me the finger. I waited patiently for him to get out of the vehicle and make his way over to the party. I smiled when I hoped he brought marshmallows.