Murder in Vein (2010) (27 page)

"What about her boyfriend?" she heard Ben ask.

"There's a girl upstairs hot to trot for him. I slipped her
some money and told her to keep him busy so I could put the
moves on Madison. She was only too happy to do it, thinking I'm
removing her competition. He's also a bloodsucker. Something
tells me the offer of a piece of tail and a piece of neck will do the
trick." This time both men laughed. "Miriam's one of Wilhelm's girls," Ethan continued. "Believe me, her talents are totally going
to waste under the tutelage of that old fart." More chuckles.

Madison heard a drawer open, then close.

"Here's my share of the money for your people," Ethan said.
"Between the last couple and this one, we might have enough
blood for another try. Lilith's money is there, too. You might
want to count that to be sure it's not light."

Careful her boots didn't make noise on the bare floor, Madison tiptoed back to the door. She had to be quiet but fast, not
knowing how long before the two men would finish their business and Ethan would come looking for her. Once out the door,
she gently closed it, but not all the way, fearing the latch would
make too much noise. She ran toward the end of the corridor
and entered the club, slowing down so she wouldn't cause any
notice. Moving fast, she headed for the stairs, taking them two at
a time to the loft.

Upstairs, things had changed. Colin was gone. So were Lilith and Isabella. Madison located her leather jacket and slipped
it on.

"Do you know where Colin went?" she asked a man she'd seen
at Bat Beauty the night before. He shrugged. She asked a couple
more people, but no one knew.

Madison was about to descend the stairs when a young waitress balancing a tray of drinks stopped her. "You looking for that
tall, dark-haired guy? The really good-looking one?"

"Yeah. Know where he is?"

The waitress made a face. "He left with that skank Miriam.
She was throwing herself at him all night. Guess he finally gave
in.

"Left? As in gone?" Madison couldn't believe Colin would go
off and leave her behind.

"Not sure if they left the building or not, but they went downstairs and haven't come back." The waitress delivered drinks to a
nearby table and returned to Madison. "You might try the catacombs," she said, signaling to another table that she'd be right
there.

"What's the catacombs? Is that another club?"

The waitress leaned close to Madison. "Behind the bar, there's
some stairs going down to some rooms the coven uses. Sometimes people go down there to suck blood on the sly or to fuck.
Miriam might have taken him there."

Madison dug a few bills out of her pocket and dumped them
on the waitress's tray. "Thanks" After a thought, she pulled out
a ten and left that as well. "If anyone comes looking for me, you
know nothing. And I mean anyone."

The waitress winked and moved on. Madison flew down the
staircase. She had to find Colin and get them both the hell out
of Bloodlust, hopefully before Miriam made him an offer he
couldn't refuse.

Madison found the door leading to the lower level. It was
located in a dark corner behind a heavy velvet drape. After making sure no one was watching, she slipped through the door and
down a short flight of metal stairs. At the bottom was a good-size
room with its lights on. At one end was a black altar. In front of it
were an ornate table and lots of folding chairs set up in raggedy
aisles. It was the Bloodlust coven's meeting room. Along one wall
were a couple of drape-covered alcoves. From one of them came
the unmistakable moans and grunts of sex in progress.

Madison wasn't sure what to do. She wasn't in the habit of
breaking in on a couple, but she and Colin needed to get out of
there. She listened just outside the drape but couldn't tell if it was
Miriam and Colin. Finally, more worried about Ethan than delicacy, she peeked behind the drape.

The alcove was larger than she'd expected but still small. It
held a small built-in bench with a pad and a chair. The space
was dimly lit by a sconce. Inside were a couple in the throes of
passion, but they were not the two she was looking for. Before
they saw her, she discreetly let the drape drop and moved to the
next alcove, which was empty. It was then her ears caught more
moans. They sounded distant, like they were close but not in the
immediate area.

Madison followed the sounds past the altar to a door that
was ajar. Gently opening the door, she discovered a large storage room with boxes of supplies and unused furniture. A dirty
overhead fixture cast a dull yellow glow over the room. Entering, Madison tread softly toward the sounds. She found the couple behind a tall stack of boxes containing paper goods. It was
Miriam and Colin. As her eyes grew wide at the sight, Madison
stepped behind the boxes, unsure of what to do.

Colin was seated in an old, beat-up chair, his pants around
his ankles. Miriam, her dress hiked up to her waist, was impaled
on his lap, her back to Colin. Moaning in jagged sobs, Miriam
gyrated on top of Colin while he sucked on the back of her neck
and made low growling sounds.

Unable to take her eyes off of them but unwilling to stay,
Madison backed away. She'd retreated a couple of steps when
she tripped and fell on her butt to the floor. In a trance, Miriam didn't notice, but Colin did. He turned toward Madison, fangs
bared and bloody, his eyes glowing like embers.

Madison slowly got to her feet, her eyes riveted on Colin.
While she watched, Colin raised his face toward the dim light
and let out a low, guttural cry of primeval triumph. The girl in
his arms joined him in his howl, then slumped against him with
a whimper. Colin licked Miriam's neck clean while she released a
chain of soft, satisfied moans.

Madison ran.

hen she reached the metal stairs leading back up to the
club, Madison took two steps up, then paused. Ethan
should be looking for her by now, so going through the
club toward the main door could be dangerous. She contemplated
going back to Colin, but that didn't seem appetizing either. She
was deciding on the lesser of two evils when her eyes spotted a red
light behind the stairs. It was an exit sign. It winked at her through
the openings in the metal steps like an illuminated escape hatch.

Hopping off the steps, she ran to the exit. With her hand on
the push bar, she hesitated again, worried that it was attached to
an alarm. Above, the door to the stairwell opened a crack. Music
drifted down into the bowels of the building.

"No one saw her leave," Madison heard someone say. It was
Ethan's voice. "I'll check down here."

"Madison" It was a different voice speaking to her-one with
an English accent. Standing at the threshold to the coven meeting
room was Colin. The fangs were gone, his eyes back to their usual
deep black. He was alone.

Madison didn't know if Ethan heard Colin above the loud
music, but she wasn't taking any chances. With one last look at
Colin, she gave the exit door a big push. No alarm sounded. On
the other side was a short flight of dirty steps leading up to an
alley. She flew up the steps and ran down the alley toward the
busy boulevard at the end, hoping to lose herself in the crowds
on the street.

She'd almost reached Hollywood Boulevard when Colin
appeared beside her. He stopped her short with a strong grip on
her upper arm.

"Madison, stop." He pulled her into the darkness of a
doorway.

Madison jerked her arm away. "Go back to Miriam. I have
more important things to do, like saving my skin."

"I'm sorry, Madison. I got carried away."

"Save it, Reddy."

She started running again. When she reached Hollywood
Boulevard, she slowed down. Again, Colin was beside her in the
blink of an eye.

"You have no way to get home," he pointed out. "Let's go back
to Bloodlust and get the bike."

No!

After quickly looking around, Madison pulled Colin
into another alley, away from the crowds. "This isn't about
you, Colin" She grabbed both lapels of his jacket and shook
him as she squeezed her words through clenched teeth. "Or
about ... about ... what happened back there with Miriam.
Ethan's going to turn me over to the killer. I heard him. Ethan
and this guy Ben, the guy I saw at Dark Tidings, they're the ones
killing people with bloodlines."

Colin stared at her for a second, then steered her behind a
dumpster. "Wait here," he ordered.

"Not on your life." Madison kicked the dumpster with her
booted foot. "I'm not staying in any dark alley alone, waiting for
a psycho with a chloroform rag. Better I stay with lots of people.
You know, safety in numbers."

With a nod of agreement, Colin escorted Madison out of the
alley and walked her down the street away from Bloodlust. They
stopped in front of a crowded Starbucks.

"Go inside," Colin told her. "But stay by the window and
watch for me. I'll be back with the bike in just a minute." He took
one last look at Madison, then vanished.

It seemed like an eternity before Madison spotted the motorcycle, but in truth it was just a few minutes. The bike came to a
stop in a loading zone in front of the coffee shop. She ran out
and hopped on the back, fastening her helmet as Colin took off.

They rode along for quite a while. Occasionally, Colin would
weave in and out of side streets in case anyone was following them, but all the time they headed west, toward the ocean.
Shortly after they hit Pacific Coast Highway, Colin turned into
the underground garage of a high-rise condo. Pulling into a space
near the back of the garage, he stopped the bike and motioned
for Madison to dismount and follow him. They entered an elevator, where he used a key card to gain access to one of the top
floors.

After what she'd seen, Madison wasn't sure she wanted to follow Colin anywhere, but she knew she didn't have many options.
She'd tipped the waitress using most of her pocket cash and
didn't have her cell phone. And even if she did, who would she
call? She'd never bothered getting the telephone number for the Dedhams. The only one she might be able to reach would be
Mike Notchey. She could call his station and ask them to patch
her through, telling them it was an emergency. She'd said back
at the Dedhams that she trusted everyone seated at the table.
Colin was one of those people. It was time for Madison to put
her money where her mouth was.

"Who lives here?" Madison asked as they got off the elevator.

"I do."

Madison stopped in her tracks as Colin continued down the
hallway lined with plush carpet and expensive wall sconces. He
stopped in front of one of the doors and put a key in the lock.

"You coming?" he asked, opening the door.

Madison took a deep breath and trotted down the hallway
toward him.

The door opened into a huge living room. The outside wall
was a bank of windows. Madison walked to the windows and
looked out. They were very high up. Below, she could see cars
moving along Pacific Coast Highway like late-night beetles scurrying home. Looking forward, she saw black, some stars, and the
moon high in the sky. Every now and then, moonlight would
shimmer across the ocean like ribbons of liquid silver.

"Looking out makes me feel like I'm drifting in outer space,"
she said, not turning around. "Bet it's awesome in the daytime."

"It is," Colin replied, coming behind her to look out. "Though
I've seldom seen it. But I love the night view. And you're right, it
does feel like being in space."

He took her helmet from her and walked away, heading for
the kitchen area, which was separated from the living room by
a long stone counter, at which were positioned four tall stools.
The apartment was incredible and sleek, but it was also stark and cold, with no personal touches whatsoever. The only color
came from a large crystal bowl filled with oranges, tangerines,
and lemons.

"I can offer you hot tea or water," Colin said to her as he put
her helmet on the counter with his own.