“Oh, yeah. He stalked me.” I was mad now. Haunting me from the grave. How sick was that? “But what are his kids doing here? I mean, revenge? Surely a will that mentioned vampires wouldn’t hold up in court.”
“Of course it wouldn’t.” Richard smiled. “And I think when David and his sister calm down, they’ll realize that. They got into his papers without consulting a lawyer. One look at the terms and sibling rivalry kicked in. Unfortunately, Westwood set up a timeline in his will. If he’s not avenged within a certain time frame, the bulk of his estate goes to some charity—the Save the World from Vampires Fund. A crock, of course. Run by one of his hunting buddies.” Richard was on the fund’s Web site.
“Listen to this: ‘Our mission is to hunt down and exterminate the fanged monsters who prey on innocent victims for their blood. Membership in our organization is free to any who share our core values. For information on special vampire-hunting equipment, click on the following links.’ Then there’s a list of places where you can buy things like stakes, holy water and crosses, the usual foolishness.”
“Not Westwood’s special goggles, I hope.” I hated those things. He’d developed goggles with lenses that could identify a vampire by the lack of a mortal’s normal body heat. The worst was that he’d had a pair that looked like regular sunglasses. It made my usual blending into crowds impossible.
“No, I don’t see them here.” Richard glanced at me. “Guess he didn’t want to share all his trade secrets. But his crossbow and olive wood arrows are here. Expensive as hell.”
I shuddered and scratched my back. “Thanks a lot.”
“Glory, mia amica. We will take them out. Set a trap and make these Westwoods vanish. Sì?” Flo put her arm around me.
“No, like Richard said, we need for them to see this will is bogus. No court would let it stand. And so far Westwood is just missing, unless they found his body. David have any thoughts about that, Richard?” I swallowed, thinking about it.
“He hired a private firm to search the area the bodyguards told him about. Didn’t want to involve the police because Dad was always low-profile and it wasn’t unusual for him to go off on hunts for months at a time without communicating. He did always arrange to sign important financial documents though. That’s what got the kids’ attention this time. Bottom line, David didn’t want his father’s vampire obsession made public.”
“If he doesn’t want the vamp stuff public, he should get that Web site you’re looking at taken down.” I felt like I wore a target on my itchy back.
Richard suddenly swore, using words I’d never heard from the former priest.
“What is it?” Flo and I ran to stand behind him.
He started to slam the laptop shut, then shook his head. “You’re right. This site has to come down. But not to protect Westwood. No one should see these pictures. They’re sickening.”
“Ricardo?” Flo put her arms around him. “Caro, you’re scaring us.”
“It’s Westwood’s ‘Kills.’” Richard stared at me. “You should never regret ending that worthless sod’s life, Gloriana. Look.” He lifted the screen and clicked the mouse. There was a gallery of photos. He double clicked, and we could see Westwood standing with his crossbow, his foot on the body of a man who’d been shot in the chest, the arrow still in his heart.
“Oh, my God!” I felt sick as Richard enlarged the photo. In Westwood’s bloody palm were two fangs. Tears filled my eyes. “Do you think . . . could Jerry’s friend Mac Tavish be there?”
“Look away, Glory. Ricardo, shut that damned computer right now!” Flo led me from Richard’s side as she muttered Italian curses under her breath. “He’s there, cara. I saw him. But you don’t need to. Eight men, four women. Bastardo! I recognized . . .” Her voice caught. “I knew at least six of them, maybe more if I had time to study.” More bitter Italian.
I turned, and we held each other as we cried. I’d never seen Flo cry. Richard wrapped his arms around both of us. We stood there, a sad, sad trio for several moments. Then Richard stepped back and grabbed a roll of paper towels out of the bathroom.
“Dry up, ladies. Thanks to Gloriana, the man will never kill another vampire or take another pair of fangs.” Richard handed us each enough paper towels to dry every window in my shop.
“Sì, mia amica.” Flo sniffed and dabbed at her eyes. “Never forget that you did a wonderful thing, putting down that monster. We will make sure his children do not go on with their vendetta. Am I right?”
“It’ll be tricky, but I swear it.” Richard sat in front of the computer again. “There’s this damned Web site, and he owned a tech company. I don’t see how we can crash the site.” Richard shut down the computer. “But, Glory, we’re in this all the way. Whatever needs doing, we’re here to help.”
“Sì.” Flo smiled at Richard. “And pray for a miracle too, eh, Ricardo?”
“Couldn’t hurt.” He smiled at his wife and pulled her into his arms.
I wished for Blade’s strong arms then. But I was glad he hadn’t seen Mac posed as a trophy. I’d swear Flo and Richard to secrecy on that point. They had good intentions, and I appreciated that. But that’s all they were. Intentions. Right now what we needed was a solid plan of action. And right now we had zilch.
Four
“I love purple. Not as slimming as black, but not all of us have figure issues.” Aggie and Flo had their heads together over the magazine picture of the new bridesmaid dresses. Flo had agreed to pay an extravagant amount to rush the order, and we were good to go. Unless I killed Aggie before the wedding.
“When you were a disgusting scaly sea monster, you didn’t even have a figure, Aggie, so I wouldn’t go there, if I were you.” I’d called Aggie to come over to discuss the shower she’d proposed, not sure a Siren knew squat about wedding customs. That was the sixth dig since she’d arrived. We weren’t buds.
“You’ll both look beautiful in this dress.” Flo ignored the tension. “This is my wedding. All eyes will be on me anyway.”
“Right. They will be. We’re just the warm-up for the main event when we walk down the aisle in front of you.” Even I had to admit Aggie looked sexy and stylish now, but as a sea monster, she’d been willing to send me to hell to save her size-six butt.
“You sure you need so many bridesmaids?” I stepped between Flo and Aggie.
“You trying to cut me out?” Aggie pushed me aside. “I’m into this now. Get over it.”
“I want both of you. But, Glory, you’re my number one, the maid of honor.” Flo smiled.
“Exactly. So it’s my duty to make sure things are done right.” I fake smiled at Aggie. “Now tell us what you’ve got in mind for Flo’s shower.” I snatched the magazine.
Aggie grinned, her once slimy green teeth now a gleaming white. “No worries. My boss the Storm God is all over it. There will be an awesome display of thunder and lightning, Flo. Then a water spout over the lake. Your guests will love it. I’m renting out the banquet room at that cute Mexican restaurant overlooking the water. I know you can’t eat, but the shifters can, and there will be drinks for them too. Margaritas. Olé.” Aggie fluffed her blond hair and gave me a look that said, “Top that.”
“Get a clue. A bridal shower isn’t about the weather, Aggie. You shower gifts on the bride.” I glanced at Flo, sending her a mental message that this sometime mermaid had to go.
“You think I don’t know that?” Aggie had her chin up. “Watch your mouth, fang girl. You have no idea what I had to do to get my boss to loosen the purse strings.” She smiled at Flo. “But it’s all good. Achy likes seeing me make nice with”—she looked me over—“the not-so-little people.”
“Why you slimy—” I lunged for her, sick of her attitude.
“Stop!” Flo jumped between us. “If you fight, where’s the fun? The celebration?” She glared at Aggie. “Fang girl? Look at me.” She pointed at her own impressive pearly whites. “Glory and I are vampires. Never forget it.” She turned to me. “And Aggie isn’t slimy now. She’s trying to make nice. Do me a favor? Make nice back.” Her mental message was more blunt, but I loved my best bud and bit the bullet.
“Fine. Have at it, Aggie. A shower? Hell, throw a typhoon if you want to.” I knew a challenge when I heard one. “I’ve got the bachelorette party.” I smiled, full fang. “Flo, a hot male dancer and exotic synthetic brews. How does that sound? My party will blow Aggie’s right out of the water.”
“In your dreams, sister. This is a lingerie shower, Flo. New undies and sexy nighties for your man to enjoy.” Aggie’s face was flushed, and if she’d had her fish tail, I’m sure it would have been whipping back and forth. “I’ve got a hundred bucks says our gal here goes for that over watching some random guy do a bump and grind while she drinks fake blood.”
“You’re on.” I’d worry about where I’d get an extra hundred later. No, I wouldn’t. My party would beat hers all to hell. If I could find a hot guy to dance, that is.
Flo was dancing around the room. “Yay! A party contest and I’m the winner.”
Aggie stopped Flo with a hand on her shoulder. “You bet you are. I’ll have some kind of imported blood at my deal too. Maybe I can find margarita-flavored stuff for you on the Internet. Or I could bring in some mortals for you to suck dry.” She winked at me. “I’ve been studying human wedding customs, but maybe vamps do things differently. It’s my first time as a bridesmaid since I don’t count ancient rituals.” She smirked. “The sacrificial virgin thing is a blast but doesn’t exactly include a happily ever after for the bride.”