Authors: Clare Willis
“A vampire showed up in San Francisco last week. His name is Richard Lazarus. He seems to be very powerful, and he’s planning to kill Isabel if I don’t do what he wants.”
“Planning to?” Delia interrupted. “What kind of vamp ‘plans’ to kill people? They just do it.”
“Not this one. He likes to play with his food.”
Delia scratched her chin pensively. After a long moment she looked back at Sunni. “I’ll talk to my dad. If he wants to help you, he’ll find you. If he doesn’t, then you’ll have to let it go. Don’t come around us anymore. Don’t look for us.”
Sunni nodded. “Okay.”
“Promise me, Sunni.” Delia squeezed Sunni’s hand.
“I promise.”
The winds the next day were a little stronger than Sunni would have liked and the temperature hovered in the low sixties, but the sky was clear and the sun was shining, so by San Francisco Baystandards it was an ideal sailing day. She called Carl and told him to cancel her appointments, that she would be out of the gallery for the morning. One of the virtues of being the boss, Dennis had always said, was that there was no one to stop you when you wanted to play hooky. When she called Dennis, he agreed to meet her at the dock in an hour.
They didn’t have to talk as they maneuvered the
Rose
out of the harbor. Replaying roles they’d acted out countless times before, Dennis unfastened the dock lines while Sunni fired up the engine. When they had cleared the mooring area Dennis let out the mainsail while Sunni manned the helm. When they reached open water Sunni turned the boat toward the Golden Gate Bridge. She filled her lungs with fresh ocean air and her eyes with the panoramic views: the jagged skyline of San Francisco with its distinctive pyramid-shaped building, the art deco–fluted cylinder of Coit Tower standing alone on its tiny hill. On the right the mountains of Marin County were still verdant from the spring rains. The towns of Sausalito and Tiburon stepped down the hillsides like Mediterranean villages.
The wind was strong out of the west, and fifteen-foot waves dashed the boat from side to side like a giant cat was batting it between its paws. Sunni tacked toward Ocean Beach, hoping to find calmer water. Dennis appeared and handed her a mug of coffee, then he tossed himself onto a seat, adjusting his sailor’s cap against the glare.
Sunni adopted the sailor’s posture, her knees pointed out, legs curved like parentheses for maximum stability. Salt spray stung her face. The smooth wooden wheel felt comfortable in her hands, familiar as her favorite coffee mug. Seagulls circled above, screeching their discordant cries, keeping an eye out for food, whether it was fish in the water or sandwiches in the hands of sailors.
“So, how’re you feeling about all of this?” Dennis shouted over the roar of the wind.
Sunni sipped her coffee. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”
In fact it was the reason she’d asked him to come sailing with her. Sunni planned to unburden herself as much as possible to Dennis and enlist his help. He was human, but his wealth gave him access to unimaginable resources. She had never seen him encounter a problem that he couldn’t solve. Perhaps it was naïve of her, but she hoped he could fix this, too.
“It’s awfully fast,” Dennis said. “I’m trying to get her to give it a few months, but she seems to be in an awful hurry. ”
“Can’t you just forbid it?”
Dennis gave a dry laugh. “She’s thirty-two years old. How much good do you think it would do?”
“Is there any way you could make Richard go away?” Sunni knew it was a shocking suggestion, but she felt she had to make it.
Dennis came to stand next to Sunni at the rudder. He put one hand on the wheel and helped her steer, as he did when she was first learning how to sail. “Spill it, Sunni. What do you know that I don’t?”
Sunni glanced at Dennis’s profile, his jaw line still strong at sixty-four, his hair gray but abundant, blowing in the strong wind. She had never told Dennis about Jacob, although it had crossed her mind many times. She had always known the old man had connections, that he could set a private detective on her “guardian angel” and probably find out who he was in less than a day, but when she thought about it she realized that if Jacob’s presence in her life was a mere coincidence she really didn’t want to know. But this was a different story. This situation was dangerous, and she needed help.
“Dennis, Richard isn’t what he seems. I’ve learned some things about him over the last few days that are very disturbing. ”
Dennis dropped his hand from the wheel. “Does he mean her harm?”
“That’s not his main purpose. He’s using her as a part of a bigger plot.”
“To do what? Get our money?” Dennis’s face was getting red.
“Yes, among other things.”
“Sunni, you’re being obtuse. Just tell me what’s going on!” Dennis shouted.
A big wave crashed onto the boat. The Rose’s hull sunk so far into the surf that frothy seawater washed over the decks, soaking them to the knees. Dennis grabbed the wheel and helped Sunni bring the boat back on course.
Sunni opened her mouth to tell him everything, but found that she simply couldn’t do it. If Dennis believed her then he would know that monsters existed, and his entire worldview would be destroyed. If he didn’t believe her then he would think shew as insane, and never trust her again. She quickly formulated a partly true story that she hoped would be plausible.
“He wants
me,
Dennis. I’m part of some crazy plot Richard has about ruling the world. He knows I wouldn’t go with him willingly, but he also knows that I would do anything for Izzy. So if I go with him, he’ll leave her alone. If I don’t he’ll kill her, but after they’re married, so that he can have her money. He’s already brainwashed her, so there’s no reasoning with her. Either I go with him, or Izzy dies.”
Dennis put his head in his hands and bent over. Another strong wave hit the boat, causing her to dip so far to starboard she was almost horizontal. Sunni had to pull Dennis up so that he wouldn’t be knocked unconscious by the wheel as she steered it hand over hand. The
Rose
finally entered into relatively calm waters near Ocean Beach. Sunni helped Dennis onto the wet bench, where he sat staring out toward land, looking stunned. Sunni reached out a hand and patted him on the shoulder. She had never seen him so diminished.
“Richard is a vampire, isn’t he?” Dennis asked quietly.
For a moment Sunni could only stare at him in shocked amazement. “You know about vampires?”
He shrugged. “I know they exist. I don’t know that much about them.”
Sunni’s blood felt like ice water in her veins. “Dennis, do you know about me, what I am? ”
He looked up at her. The sparkle was gone out of his green eyes. He looked years older than he had an hour earlier. “God help me, yes.”
Sunni let go of the wheel. Dennis grabbed it from below.
“Why … ?” she couldn’t finish the sentence.
“Just a minute.” Dennis put Sunni’s hands back on the wheel. He walked to the bow and Sunni heard the creaking sounds of the anchor being released. When he returned he took her hand and led her to sit down with him.
“I met a vampire once before, many years ago. That’s all I want to say about it.” He shook his head as if trying to release a painful memory. “I don’t know anything about them, and I can’t tell when one comes into my presence. I only know that they have certain powers. When Isabel brought you home I thought you were just a normal kid.”
“A normal kid? ”
He smiled affectionately. “Well, not normal, of course. You’ve always been special. But it took me a while to see that you had powers that weren’t human.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Sunni had to restrain herself to keep from yelling at Dennis, from pounding on his chest with her fists.
“It seemed to me that you could live a normal human life if you didn’t know. You didn’t need to drink blood, you could go out in sunlight. You weren’t afflicted with any of the usual vampire traits. ”
“It seems vampires themselves aren’t afflicted with any of the usual vampire traits,” Sunni wryly commented. “Did Gloria know?”
Dennis shook his head. “No. I wanted her to treat you like a daughter, and it might have been hard for her to understand.”
Sunni snorted. “You think?”
Dennis reached out as if he was going to take her hand, but then pulled back. “I’m not going to ask you to forgive me, Sunni. We have to make decisions as parents, sometimes they turn out to be right, sometimes wrong, but we have to live with them.”
She was glad he didn’t ask for forgiveness, because she wasn’t ready to give it yet, but she took his hand. “I’m sure there’s a lot more to say, but we need to figure out what to do about Richard. Vampires can be killed, I know that. I just don’t know how, yet. ”
“All right, this is what we’re going to do,” Dennis said. His voice was calm. He was used to issuing orders and having things go his way. Sunni hoped fervently that they’d go his way this time. “You’ve got to apologize to Isabel, and tell her you’re going to be in the wedding. This is not the time to be alienated from her.”
“Okay. And then what?”
“I know a guy who knows a guy,” Dennis said. “For enough money I can make Richard go away. ”
“Are these ‘guys’ human, or vampires?”
“They’re human. I don’t know any vampire assassins.”
Sunni chewed her lip nervously. “I don’t think there are any. Apparently it’s illegal for vampires to kill each other. It’s also against their moral code.”
Dennis laughed drily. “Same for humans, but that’s never stopped us.”
Sunni shook her head. “I’m not sure humans can kill Richard Lazarus.”
“These guys have eliminated African dictators with armies of bodyguards. You say it’s possible to kill him? He’s not immortal?”
“Yes, it’s possible.”
“Then they can do it.”
“If you say so.” Sunni was still not sure that human intervention would be enough, but unless Sherman decided to help them it was all they had. And at least she didn’t have to feel guilty that innocent people were going to get hurt. Dennis’s “guys” were obviously no angels.
Sunni looked up. Dennis smiled at her with such affection that it made her heart lurch. “I know I said I wouldn’t ask for your forgiveness,” he said. “But I hope I can earn it someday.”
She gave him a small smile. “I’m going to go below and call Isabel right now,” she said.
As soon as Isabel said hello Sunni launched into her apology. “I am truly, truly sorry. You’re my best friend, Isabel, there’s no one I care about more in the world. I only want your happiness. You believe me, don’t you?”
Isabel paused for longer than Sunni would have liked, but finally she spoke. “Yes, I believe you.”
“Our friendship is too strong to let this get between us. Let’s talk this out, Isabel.”
“What is there to talk about? You said you wouldn’t support my marrying Richard.”
Sunni wondered if Lazarus was standing over her, listening to her conversation, then she pushed that idea out of her mind.
“I won’t say anything more about Richard. I’m going to support your choice. I’ll be your maid of honor. I’m going to stand beside you and throw rice at you and dance at your reception. Okay?”
“Okay,” Isabel answered, a little too automatically.
Sunni clicked off her phone and stared out the tiny porthole at the roiling sea. She hadn’t lied that much, she rationalized. She
wasn’t
going to say any more about Isabel’s choice of husband. She
was
going to stand beside Isabel at her wedding ceremony. She just needed to make sure that it wasn’t Richard Lazarus that she married.
Sunni and Dennis stood under a streetlamp at the corner of Fifth and Market, between a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant and a defunct storefront advertising a gambling game called Fascination. A shopping cart and bundle of blankets in the doorway indicated that someone had claimed the Fascination parlor as their temporary home. Dennis had dressed down for the occasion, but his jeans had razor sharp creases down the legs. Even his skin gave off a plump, glossy sheen that screamed money. Sunni felt a constant, low-level buzz of adrenaline that kept her fingers twitching and her eyes darting around. Dennis, the old boxer, probably thought he was protecting them, but Sunni knew now that she packed more power in her pinkie fingers than Dennis had in his whole body.
Dennis clutched a crumpled paper grocery bag in one hand and his BlackBerry in the other, eyeing everyone who passed them with way too much interest. Most of the denizens of the corner paid him no mind, intent as they were on scoring dope, finding something to eat, or struggling with the demons in their heads, but a few slowed down and looked him over with malicious intent, causing Sunni to bristle with aggression.
“Man, it stinks of pee here,” Dennis said, rubbing his nose. He pushed his sleeve back to check the time, flashing a big Rolex.
Sunni slapped his wrist. “Don’t show that around here.”
He sighed and then chuckled. “I can’t think of the last time someone kept me waiting, Sunni. Except for Gloria, no one would dare.”
“Yeah, well, we’re not in Kansas anymore,” Sunni said.
“Looking for someone?”
The words came from a short, middle-aged white man wearing a blue Windbreaker and an A’s baseball cap pulled low over his eyes, leaning against the graffiti-covered wall next to the store. He had soft brown eyes behind rimless glasses. He looked entirely innocuous.
“Are you Paul?” Dennis asked in his usual booming voice.
“Shh,” the man said, “You trying to wake the whole neighborhood?” He moved a few steps closer to them, but kept looking up and down the street, as if watching for a car. “Did you bring something for me?”
Dennis held out the bag. The man grabbed it, glanced inside, and then tucked it under his jacket.
“Is there a picture in there?”
“Yes.”
Isabel had insisted on engagement photos, even though there wasn’t time to publish them in the newspaper. Sunni, after pondering the fact that a vampire’s image could be reproduced, another myth debunked, had printed one up on the computer. It was in the paper bag, on top of a hundred thousand dollars in cash.