Stakeout (Aurora Sky (15 page)

Dante squared his shoulders. “They’re still
blood suckers.”

“Yes, they suck blood.”

Dante’s lips twisted into a smile right
before he asked, “Has a vamp chick ever sucked your blood?”

“A few times.”

Dante whistled. “You get around.”

“It’s my job.”

Dante lifted his hands off the steering
wheel. “Hey, I’m not judging. I’m impressed. I thought Melcher
would use Red for that sort of thing.”

“Valerie.” I scowled.

Dante nodded. “Aurora’s not fond of her
either. Hey, can’t love all your coworkers.”

Love? I shook my head. “Melcher prefers
Valerie in close relationships.”

Dante’s lips curled back. “I’d rather get bit
by a hundred different vampires than be in a relationship with one
of those things.”

“Things?” I said, not masking the annoyance
in my voice. “They’re people, too, and a lot nicer than the average
jerk who lives and dies. And you’d be one of those “things” if you
were suddenly denied the government’s anti-vamp formula.”

Dante leaned toward me. “Touchy. Getting a
little too close to your targets?”

I huffed and pushed my back into my seat.
“They’re not all targets. Talk to Melcher.”

“Oh, I’ve talked to Melcher,” Dante said,
suddenly sounding serious. “And he made it very clear he wants them
all dead. He’s just more methodical about it than I’d be. He wants
to start with the worst ones first and work his way down the
list.”

A bark startled me. I’d completely forgotten
about the big hairy animal in back.

“Tommy needs to take a leak,” Dante
announced. He steered the Jeep off the road at the next pull off.
“Come on, boy, let’s make yellow snow.”

Dry frigid air filled the car when Dante
opened his door. Outside jagged peaks pierced the shadowy sky.

There wasn’t a single street light or sign of
civilization as far as the eye could see. It was unsettling and
peaceful at the same time. Made me feel safe, out of reach.

Dante kept the Jeep running while he went out
with his dog, walking out of sight behind the car. The door behind
me opened a few minutes later, and the dog leaped inside, panted a
bit, and settled himself across all three seats in back. Dante
jumped into the driver’s seat and said, “Ready to roll?”

“Wait. I have to pee.”

Dante dug a napkin out of the fast food bag
and handed it to me. “You might want to put on some pants before
you go out there.”

I wrapped my fingers around the paper napkin.
“I don’t wear pants.”

Dante looked at me dubiously. “Take it from
me, frostbite’s no fun.”

“I don’t get cold.” I nodded at his chest.
“What about you? You went out in a T-shirt.”

“Yeah, well, I grew up in these parts.”

“Well, I’m half Russian.” Not to mention numb
inside.

“So, pee already.”

“Stop distracting me.”

“Want me to hold your hand?”

We stared each other down. I was the first to
break, erupting into giggles that turned into full-fledged
laughter. My shoulders shook. Dante got caught in the hilarity, and
when I saw tears leaking in the corners of his eyes, it made me
laugh harder.

I squeezed my legs together. “I’m going to
pee if I keep laughing.”

“If you pee in the Jeep you’re walking the
rest of the way to Fairbanks.”

That made me start laughing again. Dante,
too.

“I may be laughing, but I mean it,” he
said.

“Okay, be right back.” I unclicked my
seatbelt, opened the passenger door, and jumped down to the compact
snow below. “No looking,” I said before shutting the door.

The cold pricked my bare skin like a thousand
frozen splinters. Of course I could feel it, but it didn’t chill me
at my core. Cold didn’t bother me. It had its own unique feeling
against my skin, just like cotton, silk, or wool.

I didn’t get how people lived in hot places.
All that heat would make me want to nap all the time. In the cold,
everything was crisp and clear. I felt alive.

I quickly did my thing and hoisted myself
back in the Jeep. Dante sped off into the waning light. The
mountains turned to shadows in the distance, everything in front of
us dimming as though we were chasing the dark.

8

Fairbanks was covered in ice fog when we rolled in
after eight p.m.

“Welcome to the second largest city in
Alaska,” Dante said. “She’s a beauty, ain’t she?”

“I can’t see a thing.”

Dante took a deep breath and wistfully said,
“Ah, home.”

“Do you have family here?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Do you ever visit them?”

“Not when I’m on a mission.” Dante leaned
closer to me. “Don’t mix business and family, but I am coming back
in a couple weeks for spring break.”

“This is where you spend spring break?”

I could see only ten feet in front of me. The
yellow dotted lines were the only indication we were still on the
road. Good thing the ground wasn’t covered in snow or we wouldn’t
be able to tell up from down.

Dante lifted his chin. “Welcome to the real
Alaska. We aren’t like you city folks. We’re true survivors up here
in the north with nothing but our wits to keep us going.”

I squinted through the fog at a one-story
building lit up within. “Is that a Wal-Mart?”

“Yeah.”

I snorted. “How authentically Alaskan of you
to have a Wal-Mart right down the road.”

Dante shrugged. “Where else are we going to
get our duct tape and ammo?”

“I suppose you have an Olive Garden,
too.”

“Nope. Not that.”

Well, that definitely made all the
difference.

“What’s old Bucky boy’s address again?” Dante
asked.

“Twenty-one-oh-nine, off Duck Pond Lane.” I
wasn’t familiar with Fairbanks, but I’d Googled the address. “You
know it?”

“Duck Pond Lane? Of course.”

“He might be working at the A&P,
though.”

“He’s undead, and he’s working a day
job?”

I smiled sweetly. “How else is he going to
pay for his beer?”

“Right. At least he’s got his priorities
straight.”

Dante drove by Buck’s cabin first. Even from
seventy feet away, we could see the lights were out and no vehicle
parked outside. The places on Duck Pond Lane were spaced out by at
least an acre, and there wasn’t any kind of sidewalk or curb to
park along. Just one dark, dirt road.

“This is going to be a problem later,” I
said.

“No problem,” Dante said. “I’ve got night
vision goggles in the trunk.”

I scrunched up my nose. “You mean like spy on
him from outside?” I was so not an outdoors girl.

“It’s not like we can pull into his driveway
and watch him.”

Dante turned the Jeep around and headed for
the A&P. Two lanes of gas pumps took up the spots directly in
front of the convenience store’s glass windows. The parking spots
on the side of the building faced a brick wall with no view inside,
so Dante pulled into a spot across the street along the curb.

Dante drummed his fingers lightly on the
steering wheel, staring at the A&P. “I’m hungry,” he said.

“Me, too.”

“We should go in and get a snack.”

“No.”

“No?” Dante grunted. “Who made you team
leader?”

I gave Dante the stink eye. “I’m not giving
orders. I’m following them.”

Dante threw his head back into his seat and
groaned. “This is torture. I don’t do stakeouts. I take
action.”

We’d only been outside the A&P five
minutes. This was going to be a fun mission.

“Tough tits,” I said.

That made Dante smile wide. He was such a
boy. All it took was food or a naughty word to get a grin out of
him.

Several minutes later, he sighed and said,
“Snoreville,” before reaching forward and turning the radio on.

I retreated into my mind as I’d done a
hundred times before. This wasn’t a party, but I had plenty of
practice waiting and observing. I was in it for the long haul.

Shortly after nine p.m., Buck walked out of the
A&P. Dante’s chair was reclined and his eyes were closed. Not
exactly an elite spy. I smacked his shoulder. “There’s Buck.”

Dante had his seat up in an instant. He
leaned his whole body to within an inch of his window.

“That guy is my age. How come I don’t
recognize him?”

“Buck moved to Fairbanks from Anchorage four
months ago.”

“Ah, that explains it.”

Buck walked up to a maroon truck and
unplugged the engine from an outlet on the side of the building
before getting inside. We followed him to Duck Pond Lane from a far
distance. Tailing someone was a cake walk when you already knew
where they lived.

Dante drove past Buck’s place then turned
around at the end of the road. Two cabins down from Buck’s, Dante
pulled over and put the Jeep in park.