Dead Reckoning(70)

Okay. “Eric and I want to know why you warned us,” I said to Colton. And I wanted to know why I’d thought about him when Eric had told me the story of Chico and his mother.

“I heard about you,” he said. “Heidi told me.”

“You and Heidi are friends?” Eric was intent on Colton, but he spared one of his best smiles for Audrina.

“Yeah,” Colton said. “I worked for Felipe at a club in Reno. I knew Heidi from there.”

“You moved from Reno to take a low-paying job in Louisiana?” That didn’t make any sense.

“Audrina was from here, and she wanted to try living here again,” Colton explained. “Her grandma lives in the trailer down the road, and she’s pretty frail. Audrina works at Vic’s Redneck Roadhouse during the day as a bookkeeper. I work at night at Vampire’s Kiss. And the cost of living is a lot cheaper here. But you’re right, there’s more to the story.” He glanced at his girlfriend.

“We came for a reason,” Audrina said. “Colton is Chico’s brother.”

Eric and I both took a second to work that out. “So it was your mom,” I said to the young man. “I’m so sorry.” Though I hadn’t heard any more of the story, the name had been enough to snag in my brain.

“Yeah, it was my mom,” Colton said. He gave us an entirely blank stare. “My brother Chico is an asshole who didn’t think twice about becoming a vampire. He gave up his life like some lesser asshole would get a tattoo. ‘It’s cool, let’s do it!’ And then he kept on being an asshole, talking shit to Victor, not understanding. Not getting it.” Colton put his head in his hands and shook it from side to side. “Until that night. Then he got it. But our mom was dead. And Chico wishes he was, but he won’t ever be.”

“And how come Victor doesn’t know who you are, know to be leery of you?”

“Chico had a different dad, so he had a different last name,” Audrina said, to give Colton time to recover. “And Chico wasn’t a family type guy. He hadn’t lived at home for ten years. He only called his mom once every couple of months, never went to see them. But that was enough to give Victor the bright idea of reminding Chico he hadn’t signed a contract with the California Angels.”

“More like Hell’s Angels,” Colton said, straightening.

If the comparison bothered Eric, he didn’t let on. I was sure it wasn’t the worst he’d heard. “So thanks to Victor’s employee,” Eric began, “you knew about my Sookie. And you knew how to warn her when Victor was going to poison us.”

Colton looked angry. Shouldn’t have, he thought.

“Yes, you did what you ought to do,” I said, maybe a little huffily. “We’re people, too.”

“You are,” Eric said, reading Colton’s expression as accurately as I read his thoughts. “But Pam and I aren’t. Colton, I want to thank you for your warning, and I want to reward you. What can I do for you?”

“You can kill Victor,” Colton said immediately.

“How interesting. That’s exactly what I want to do,” Eric said.





Chapter 10




As dramatic statements go, Eric’s had a high impact. Both Audrina and Colton tensed up. But I’d ridden this pony before.

I puffed out my cheeks in exasperation and looked away.

“You’re bored, my lover?” Eric asked, in a voice that could have taught icicles something about chilly.

“We’ve been saying that for months.” That might have been a slight exaggeration, but not much. “All we’ve done is talk smack. If we’re going to do something bad, let’s go on and do it — not talk it to death! You think he doesn’t know he’s on our hit list? You think he’s not waiting for us to try?” (Apparently, this was a speech I’d kept secret even from myself, for way too long.) “You think he’s not doing all this shit to you and Pam to provoke you into something, so he’ll be justified in smacking you down? This is a win-win situation for him!”

Eric looked at me as though I’d turned into a nanny goat. Audrina and Colton were openmouthed.

Eric started to say something, then closed his mouth. I had no idea if he was going to yell at me or walk out silently.

“So what’s your solution?” he said, his voice quiet and steady. “Do you have a plan?”

“Let’s meet with Pam tomorrow night,” I said. “She should be in on this.” Also, it would give me a time to think of something so that I wouldn’t embarrass myself.