They drove to Gabe’s hotel, since he wanted to change into something less formal, despite Harvey’s assurances as to how sexy he looked. In the car, Gabe related the details of his meeting. Harvey listened and made only small humming sounds in response.
“I wish I knew how he knew about me at all and what happened with Dill and that vampire. Do you think Stan or Ray told him?”
Harvey looked uncertain. “Well, the guys have a lot of connections, most I don’t know much about, but I don’t see why they’d go to Victor Augustine. Weird.”
They chewed on that notion in silence on the rest of the way to the hotel.
Once there, Harvey looked around the room. “
Très chic
,” he said in a mocking tone.
“It’s cheap, and there are no bedbugs.” Gabe didn’t much care where he slept.
“You could move in with me. You know, till you find an apartment,” Harvey said in an off-handed way, not even looking up.
Gabe stared dumbstruck as Harvey dropped his ass on the bed, testing the bounciness of the mattress. “Do you think it’s a good idea?”
Harvey finally looked at him. “Why not?”
“I dunno, because we barely know each other?”
“I don’t know if that’s true. You almost killed me; then you saved my life. That’s more than most couples get to in a lifetime.”
“That’s because most couples have normal lives.”
“Exactly. We’re not normal, don’t have to live by their boring ‘normal’ rules. Anyway, you can move out if it doesn’t work. It’s not like you’ll have to hire a moving van for all your stuff. Meanwhile, you’d save some money.”
“You make it sound so cut and dry.”
Harvey tilted his head sideways and gave Gabe a scrutinizing gaze. “Tell me how you became a vampire hunter.”
Gabe knew he was ready to tell that story. He took the sole chair, spun it around and sat down facing Harvey, but it took him a few moments to collect his thoughts. Harvey waited, motionless.
Eventually, Gabe began to talk. “My parents used to have a little grocery store over in Rogers Park. It was always assumed I would eventually take over the store. That was okay with me—I’d been helping out since I could remember. Everything was going fine, they could go on vacation for the first time of their lives and leave me to mind the business. Then one night driving home, they had an accident on the expressway and were both killed.”
Gabe didn’t want to dwell on the ugly details and was thankful for Harvey remaining silent. He rushed on. “I got kinda depressed after that, and everything else went to shit too. The store had back taxes due, loan payments that my father had neglected to mention. I ended up selling it. Then out of the blue I got a letter from Hungary, from a man claiming to be my uncle. Another thing my father had never mentioned.”
“Weird.”
“Tell me about it. But he sent a plane ticket, and I badly needed a change of scenery, so I thought ‘why the hell not?’ When I met him at the airport, he looked like a fifteen-years-older version of my father—though I later learned that the age difference was only three years.”
“Hard living?”
“For sure. And all the
pálinka
he drank like water—it’s a local fruit brandy. He was extremely hospitable, took me all over the city, and Budapest is a beautiful place. Then he took me out to the country, supposedly to show me the old family stomping grounds. That’s when he told me about the whole vampire-hunting business, how it was our family duty and all that. Naturally, I thought he was mad.”
“Naturally.”
“Then he proved it to me. That’s when we killed our first vampire. Well, he did. I was busy pissing my pants.” That still counted as the number-one weirdest day of Gabe’s life.
“Then what?”
“Lots of training, followed by traipsing around Eastern Europe, looking for undead. I have to tell you, that part of the world is full of ruins and all sorts of old places. Even the cities have miles of underground tunnels and secret passages.”
“Sounds picturesque—in a dark and creepy way.”
“The undead we met were all foul-smelling monsters, primitive and ferocious. They only had two modes—either sleeping or attacking. It was strange, though, we often found groups of them in deep sleep, almost hibernation. Like somebody left caches of bloodsuckers around for later use.”
Harvey snorted. “Maybe a master vampire bent on world domination. He and his sidekick, Pinky, must be awful pissed at you right now.”
“You’re making fun of me.”
“Only a little, my Angel. So what, if your uncle hadn’t kicked it, would you still be there doing the same old thing?”
It was something Gabe occasionally wondered about too. “I dunno. After my parents’ death I had a lot of unfocused rage in me. The slaying channeled it, and having a purpose got me out of my depression. You know what I mean?”
Harvey scrunched up his face, but it failed to make him any less good looking. “Yeah, I think so. I was plenty pissed after…stuff, but I had friends to help me through. Eventually I moved on. What about you?”
Gabe shrugged. “The anger wasn’t quite there anymore, and I got homesick too. Miklos didn’t like hearing that.”
“Did you have anyone beside your uncle? Boyfriend?”
“Hah! He didn’t even know I was gay. The Old Country is not on the leading edge of tolerance. And my uncle…he wasn’t particularly open-minded. He kept urging me to settle down, marry a nice local girl and father lots of boys.”
“But you didn’t tell him there was no chance of it?”
“In the end, I did.”
“What happened?”
“He clutched his chest and keeled over.”
“Shit.”
“Yup. I killed him.”
Harvey was quiet for a moment. When he spoke, his voice was softer, and he brushed a hand on Gabe’s arm. “He probably had a heart condition already and it was just a question of time. Take it from me, healthy people don’t drop dead that easy.”
“That’s probably true, but still…”
“I know.”
They were both quiet for a moment. Then Harvey perked up. “Hey, wait. Why didn’t your uncle have his own kids?”
Gabe remembered how touchy Miklos used to be about the subject. “Couldn’t. Mishap with a vampire when he was younger.”
“Ouch. Those Eastern bloc vampires sound like a nasty bunch. No wonder you’re so aggro.”
“You’re not exactly the picture of serenity yourself.”
“I have a temper, I know. I’m working on it.”
“What’s up with the fangs? I don’t see them now.”
“Retractable. Hurt like a bitch when they were growing out. They descend on their own when I’m angry or horny. Or hungry. I can’t always control them yet—it takes time to master, and I’m still young. By vampire standards.”
Gabe had spilled his story, and now wanted to know Harvey’s, before making a decision about cohabitation.
“Tit for tat. Tell me how you became a vampire,” he said.
“I’ve told you already.”
“Tell me how it really happened.”
Harvey sighed. “You won’t let it go, will you?”
“No.”
“Fine.” Harvey’s eyes lost focus, as if he was gazing inward. “I was working night shift at the hospice. It was quiet. I was just making my rounds when I found three strange men in Mrs. Simpson’s room. She was in the final stages of cancer, totally out of it. One of the men was bent over her. When I stepped into the room and demanded to know who they were and what they were doing there, he straightened up, and I saw blood on his lips. I ran to call security but of course never made it.”
“What happened?”
“They seized me and dragged me out into the stairwell. I fought back, but they were very strong, and there were three of them. I was really scared, sure I would die. They all fed on me till I was close to passing out; then one of them noticed my ID tag and my name—Feng. The asshole misread it as Fang. They laughed. Honestly, the whole bunch of them were acting strange, like they were high. Except vampires can’t get high. The one I caught feeding on Mrs. Simpson suggested that they should turn me. They all thought that was a hysterically funny idea. So that’s how it happened.” Harvey’s tone was flat and unemotional.
“I’m sorry.”
Harvey sharply jerked his shoulder. “I should be thankful. They could have killed me outright. Instead they left me barely conscious in a parking lot, just before dawn. It was pure chance that Stan and Ray found me.”
“You’d said it took skill to turn somebody. So they knew what they were doing?”
“I think they just got lucky. Or rather, I got lucky. So to speak.”
Gabe finally understood what Ray had meant by Harvey having had a “rough start”.
“So as you know, when I got better I went back to work, but when my father passed away, he left me enough money that I could quit and spend my time trying to come up with a blood substitute. And that’s my story so far.” Harvey got it all out on one breath.
“I see.”
“Oh yeah, and the guy you killed, the one who kidnapped Dill, was one of the fuckheads who turned me.”
“What?” Gabe nearly shouted. Harvey keeping secrets from him bothered him, but he could understand it. However, this detail troubled him.
“I didn’t recognize him at first—he’d gotten older and uglier—but it was definitely him. And he wanted me dead.”
“I thought vampires didn’t age.”
“So did I. And that just makes the whole thing super freakish.” With a typical sudden change of mood, Harvey batted his eyelashes theatrically. “Having a big bad slayer in the house sure would make me feel safer.” His voice was appropriately vampish.
While Harvey downplayed the whole thing, Gabe could tell he was worried. And so was Gabe.
“Well, I guess there’s no good reason I should waste money on a hotel when you have a perfectly good bed.” He stood and placed the chair back to its place.
Harvey was obviously done talking about depressing stuff. He gazed at Gabe from under lowered lashes. “Talking about beds, I always wanted to do it in a cheap hotel room. It sounds so deliciously seedy. We could pretend we’re having a sordid affair.”
Harvey leaned back on his elbows, hitting a seductive pose.
Gabe was warming up to the idea. Leave it to Harvey to be into role-playing. Gabe had never thought about it before, but coming from Harvey it sounded immensely alluring. “Oh yeah, who are we?” he asked, leaning over Harvey but not touching.
“You’re a hotshot lawyer, and I’m a hustler you’ve picked up.”
“You have a dirty mind,” Gabe growled, instantly aroused by the image Harvey’s words conjured up in his head.
“Oh yeah, and it’s the nineteen-sixties,” Harvey added.
“Oh, you like it dangerous,” Gabe said, pushing the cheeky rent-boy down on the bed.
The Cheerful Corpse
Chapter One
Gabe parked the black SUV across from the high school. He and Harvey sat back and waited. A few minutes later, the school’s doors flew open, and a tidal wave of teenagers spilled out onto the street.
“I feel like a secret agent.” Harvey grinned. He wore black from head to toe, complete with wrap-around shades. Too cool for his own good, in Gabe’s unsolicited opinion.
“This was a bad idea. Augustine didn’t say I could bring you along,” he said.
“He didn’t say you couldn’t. Who’s better to have along on a stakeout than a partner who doesn’t have to pee? Just think about all the money you’re saving on adult diapers.”
“You’re nuts. The guy might not even show. It’s broad daylight.”
“If he’s what they say he is, he’ll be here. It’s the perfect day for it too.”
Harvey had a point—September had been mild so far, but a subtle threat of the impending cold season hung in the air. Rain clouds gathering above looked even darker through the car’s tinted windows. At the other side of the street, the flood of students thinned to a trickle.
Harvey unwrapped a stick of red gum and shoved it into his mouth.
“Why are you bothering with those if you can’t taste them?” Gabe asked.
“I almost can. I remember the flavor when I chew them—it’s psychological. These used to be my favorites. Number seven on my list of things I miss about being a normal person.”
“Normal being subjective,” Gabe said under his breath, but even as he did, the awareness of another vampire getting closer tickled up his spine. “Someone’s coming.”
“How far?” Harvey straightened up in his seat, all business.
“Couple of blocks.”
“You have an impressive range.”
“It’s been getting better, and I was concentrating.”
They waited for the man to come into visual range. He wasn’t much to look at: medium-build jeans, gray long-sleeved shirt and baseball hat. Dressed to blend in, but thanks to his special skills, Gabe recognized the predator under the camouflage. Like a seasoned hunter waiting for its prey, the vamp lingered across the corner from the school, half-hidden behind a tree. A chubby brunette of about fourteen crossed the street. As she strolled past the vamp, he stepped forward and stopped her. Staring into her eyes, he said a few words. From that distance, it was impossible to know exactly what transpired between them, but the two of them started briskly down a side street.
“Okay, Harv, it’s your turn. The way we agreed.”
Without a word Harvey jumped out of the car and dashed after the vampire and the girl. Gabe put the car in gear and rolled down the same street till he found a spot to park ahead. He shut off the engine and watched in his side-view mirror as Harvey caught up to the pair and clasped the man on the shoulder. Even without audio, the scene was easy to interpret. Harvey acted like someone bumping into a good friend, slapping the man on the shoulder, smiling and talking. Harvey was damn good at playacting, but Gabe had known that already. The surprise in the man’s face changed to anxiety as Harvey switched his attention to the girl. The vampire puffed himself out and moved to rebuff Harvey, but his bluff was easy to see. Whatever Harvey replied poked the hole in it—the man spun and rushed down the street, past Gabe.
Gabe let him disappear around the corner before getting out of the car and heading after him. He left the keys in the ignition. Following his mark from a safe distance, Gabe put the Bluetooth headset over his ear and dialed Harvey.