Certain Dark Things(83)

“What makes you think he is still living in Mexico City? We haven’t had any reports of vampires for years and years.”

“When I met him, I heard he was some big shot. He could still pull a lot of strings. He knew many secrets, from a bunch of people. I don’t think people dared touch him because of that. He had plenty of money. I don’t know, he was the type who could stay and just keep his head down, you know? Make no fuss, keep things going for himself.” Archibaldo licked his lips. “Plus, I know he was still around as late as the ’90s.”

“Did you see him?” Ana asked.

“No, I didn’t see him. I stopped sending him girls over after a couple of mishaps. And the guy scared me, all right? He could read someone’s thoughts, and that was just too damn disturbing for me. Too much.”

“Then?”

“I’ve got to keep an ear to the ground and know what the competition is doing, you know? I was paying off one of his girls to tell me what my biggest competitor back then was up to. If he was importing Russian babes or if he’d been getting girls from Tlaxcala. Whether he was trying to run a massage parlor or—”

“I get the drift. What about the vampire?” she asked.

“The girl I was paying off told me he was their client now. This was in ’98. I don’t see why he wouldn’t still be around.”

No, she didn’t see why he couldn’t be around either. Safe in the Roma. And for some reason the vampire girl was with him.

*

Ana stopped at a convenience store and bought a pack of cigarettes, feeling guilty about the purchase. She’d told Marisol she’d quit, again, but that hadn’t lasted. Two blocks from her building, her phone rang. She thought it might be Kika.

“Yes?” she said.

“You hung up on me,” a man said.

Godoy’s people. Perfect. She thought about hanging up again, but spoke instead.

“What do you want?” she asked.

“Go upstairs and we’ll kill your daughter. Head to the alley behind your building, now.”

Ana felt a tightness in her gut. She found it hard to even think properly, much less reply. “Yes.”

She saw them when she reached the mouth of the alley, an older man and a young one. She recognized Nick Godoy from his photo, though half his head was bandaged. He looked more like a monster than a ladies’ man now even if he was wearing sunglasses and a hoodie to try to hide the damage.

“Ana Aguirre,” the older man said. He was leaning against the wall of the alley, arms crossed. “I’ve been wanting to meet you. I’m Rodrigo. This is Nick.”

“What do you want?” she asked.

“Information. You’re investigating the so-called vampire murders.”

“Luna is the lead on that. You should talk to him,” she said, her voice leaden. She gave him nothing. You couldn’t show emotion near these pricks.

“How’d you find the girl?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Wrong answer,” Rodrigo said, brushing a hand against the lapel of his suit. “Nick.”

He pounced on her, but Ana had years of dealing with his kind and she pulled out her silver knife just as quickly, slicing at his arm. The kid growled, showing her a multitude of teeth. Ana sliced again, aiming for the chest. She thought the odds were in her favor, but then Rodrigo spoke, slow and measured.

“Drop it or a friend of mine is going to break the door to your apartment down and beat your daughter so badly you’ll need dental records to ID her,” he said.

“You wouldn’t—”

“Didn’t you see the news? The factory? We would. We are past being discreet.”

She believed him. The fear she’d pushed down bubbled up, knitting in her gut. Ana dropped the knife.

“She cut me!” Nick said, sounding outraged, and then, without preamble, he bit her neck.

This is it. Killed by a vampire kid, she thought. However, the bite wasn’t terribly deep and it was the restraint that alarmed her. And then the boy bit into his own wrist and she panicked, trying to punch him. He held her tight, pressing the bloody wrist against her mouth. When the blood hit her, everything seemed to slow down.

The boy stepped away and Ana felt this itch inside her head, inside her brain. Damn it, not this. Years in Zacatecas, dealing with bloodsuckers, and now this.

“Ask her how she found Atl,” Rodrigo said.

“How did you find Atl?” Nick repeated.

Ana spoke, compelled by the alien blood that was now coursing through her body. “A sanitation report. It mentioned a dog that resembled the one she owns.”

“How did you know to also look for Nick?”

“Deep Crimson, an important gang. They came to me, told me they wanted help in finding Atl and Nick. I agreed.”

“Do you know where she is now?”

“Most likely in the Roma. She is with a vampire called Bernardino. He’s a Revenant,” she said, her mouth opening and makings sounds on its own accord.

“We should go there right now,” the young vampire said.

The old man didn’t look so convinced. He shook his head. “A Revenant.”

“Who cares if it’s ten of them?!” the young vampire screeched.

“You don’t just step into a vampire’s lair if you can avoid it. Does Deep Crimson know the current location of the girl?”