'Hey, thanks,' I called as if I believed him. 'We'll be right here.'
By the time I had finished speaking, he had disappeared into the crowd. Mission accomplished.
'Nicely done, my friend,' Pepe murmured. 'He does not, how you say, want to get involved, no?'
'That's right,' I said, my eyes 'on the building again. 'And to tell you the truth, I'm not too wild about the idea either. What do you think, Massha? It's awfully quiet in there.'
'I'll say,' my apprentice agreed. 'I'm just trying to figure out if that's a good or a bad sign. Another ten minutes and I'm heading in there to check it out myself.'
I nodded my consent, even though I doubted she saw it. We both had our eyes glued to the building, memorizing its every detail. It was a four-story structure… or it would be if it weren't for the curved peak that jutted out from the roof fully half-again as high as the main building. It looked as if the builder had suddenly added the adornment in a last-minute attempt to have his work stand as tall or taller than its neighbors. From the number of windows in the main structure, I guessed it was an apartment building or a hotel or something. In short, it looked like it had a lot of little rooms. I found myself wondering exactly how our strike force was supposed to locate their target without kicking in every door in the place… a possibility I wouldn't put past Aahz.
I was about to express this fear to Massha when a loud crash sounded from within.
'What was that?' I demanded of no one in particular.
'Sounded like a loud crash,' my apprentice supplied helpfully.
I forced myself to remember that no one out here knew any more about what was going on inside than I did.
After the crash, everything was quiet once more. I tried to tell myself that the noise might have nothing at all to do with the strike force, but I didn't believe it for a minute. The crowd was talking excitedly to each other and straining to see the various windows. They seemed quite confident that something else would happen soon, much more than I, but then again, maybe as city dwellers they were more accustomed to such vigils than I. Suddenly, Tananda appeared in the doorway. 'Did they come out this way?' she called. 'No one's been in or out since you went in,' I responded.
She swore and started to re-enter the building. 'What happened?' I shouted desperately. 'We nailed one of them, but Vic got away. He's loose in the building somewhere, and he's got the girl with him.'
With that, she disappeared before I could make any further inquiries.
Terrific.
'Exciting, eh?' Pepe said. 'I tell you, I could watch such a chase for hours.'
'Well, I can't,' I snapped. 'I've had it with sitting on the sidelines. Massha? I'm going in there. Want to come?'
'I dunno. Hot Stuff. I'd like to, but somebody should be here to plug this escape route.'
'Fine. You wait here, and I'll…'
I turned to enter the building and bumped headlong into Vilhelm.
'What are you doing here?' I demanded, not really caring.
The Dispatcher shook his head slightly to clear it. Being smaller, he had gotten the worse of our collision.
'I'm here with the witnesses, remember? I was supposed to bring them.'
'You were supposed to send them. Oh well, where are they?'
'Right here,' he said, gesturing to a sullen group of vampires standing behind him. 'This is Kirby, and Paul, and Richard, and Adele, and Scott… some of the most respected citizens in town. Convince them and you're home free.'
Looking at the group, I suddenly realized how Aahz had ended up on death row. If the jury had been anything like these specimens, they would have hung their own mothers for jaywalking. While I didn't relish the thought of trying to convince them of anything, I found myself being very glad I didn't have to deal with them on a regular basis.
'Okay. So we're here,' the one identified as Kirby growled. 'Just what is it we're supposed to be witnessing? If this is one of your cockamamie deals, Vilhelm…'
I interrupted simply by taking my sunglasses off and opening my eyes wide, displaying their whites. The bad reputation of humans in this dimension was sufficient to capture their undivided attention.
'Perhaps you recall a certain murder trial that took place not too long ago?' I said, trying to work the toothblack off with my tongue. 'Well, the convicted murderer who escaped is my partner, and right now he's inside that building. He and a few of our friends are about to show you one surprisingly lively corpse… specifically the fellow that my partner is supposed to have killed. I trust that will be sufficient to convince you of his innocence?'
While the vampires were taken aback by my presence in their midst, they recovered quickly. Like I said, they were real hard cases and didn't stay impressed very long.
'So how much time is this going to take?' Kirby said impatiently. 'I'm giving up my sleep for this, and I don't get much of it.'
That was a good question, so, not having an answer, I stalled.
'You sleep nights? I thought…'
'I'm a day owl,' the vampire waved. 'It's easier to get my work done when the phone isn't ringing every five minutes… which usually means waiting until everyone else is asleep. But we're getting off the subject. The bottom line is that my time is valuable, and the same holds true for my colleagues. If you think we're going to just stand around here until…'
There was a sudden outcry from the crowd, and we all looked to find them talking excitedly and pointing up at the roof.
A figure had emerged, fighting to pick his way across the steeply sloped surface while dragging a struggling girl by one arm.
Vic!
This was the first time I had gotten a clear look at my foe, and I was moderately surprised. He was younger than I had expected, barely older than myself, and instead of a menacing cloak, he was sporting a white turtleneck and sunglasses. It suddenly occurred to me that if sunglasses enabled me to pass for a vampire, that they would also let a vampire pass undetected among humans.
The vampire suddenly stopped as his path was barred by Tananda, who appeared as if by magic over the edge of the roof. He turned to retrace his steps, only to find that the trio of Aahz, Guido, and Chumley had emerged behind him, cutting off his retreat.
'I believe, gentlemen and lady, that up there is the elusive body that started this whole thing,' I heard myself saying. 'If you can spare a few more moments, I think my colleagues will have him in custody so that you might interrogate him at your leisure.'
'Don't be too sure of that. High Roller,' Massha cautioned. 'Look!'
His chosen routes of escape cut off. Vic was now scrabbling up the roof peak itself, Luanna hanging in his grip. While I had to admire his strength, I was at a loss to understand what he was trying to accomplish with the maneuver. It was obvious that he had been exposed, so why didn't he just give it up?
The answer became apparent in the next few moments. Reaching the apex of the roof, the vampire underwent a chilling metamorphosis. Before the strike force could reach him, he hunched forward and huge batwings began to grow and spread from his back. His plans gone awry, he was getting ready to escape.
In immediate response to his efforts, Tananda and Guido both produced projectile weapons and shouted something to him. Though the distance was too great to make out the words clearly, it was obvious to me that they were threatening to shoot him down if he tried to take to the air.
'We may have a murder case yet,' Kirby murmured, squinting to watch the rooftop drama unfold.
'Murder?' I exclaimed, turning on him. 'How can you call it murder if they're only trying to keep from escaping your justice? '
'That wasn't what I meant,' the vampire said, never taking his eyes from the action. 'Check it out.'
I looked… and my heart stood still.
Aahz had been trying to ease up the roof peak closer to Vic and his hostage. Vic must have seen him, because he was now holding Luanna out over the drop as he pointed an angry finger at my partner. The threat was unmistakable.
