Affliction (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter) - Laurell K. Hamilton Page 0,216

on yet, which made it easier to hug, but meant it would take him longer to get ready to go; like so much about dating my bodyguards, it was a mixed blessing.

I went up on tiptoe still wrapped in the hug, so that he didn’t have to bend very far for us to kiss hello. His lips were soft and the kiss softer. It might have grown into something more, but my phone rang and the ring tone was the Hawaii Five-O theme, which was what I used for most police that I worked with occasionally.

Domino knew the ring tone and let me go without a question. He moved back into the room to get his weapons. We followed and shut the door behind us as I answered the phone. It was Hatfield.

‘Blake, everyone here is congratulating us on killing the rogue vampire, but before I celebrate I wanted to ask you and Forrester. Is it dead?’

I liked Hatfield a lot in that moment. ‘No, I’m like ninety-five percent sure it’s not.’

‘I thought you’d say that.’ She didn’t sound happy about being right, but it was honest emotion.

Domino had his gear laid out on the neatly made bed as if he planned to pack it all neatly away. He was casual about a lot of stuff, but not about his job. He’d been trained as a mob bodyguard and enforcer, because the master of the city of Vegas was a mob boss who dated back to the days of Bugsy Siegel. Domino had been playing catch-up in some areas of the guards’ training, because we had more ex-military and ex-police and mercenaries, running our crew, but for sheer brutality he’d probably seen his share. I’d met Max, the Master of Vegas. His first job in the mob had been as a leg-breaker himself, which meant in his day he hadn’t been squeamish about getting his own hands dirty, and expected the same willingness from his people. Domino slipped his vest on and began tightening the straps.

‘I wish I believed the big bad vampire died in the fire and explosion, but this thing can jump bodies. To truly kill it we have to keep it in one place long enough to die.’

‘How do we do that?’ Hatfield asked.

‘If we can find the original body and destroy it, then chances are that’ll do the job.’

Domino started putting his weapons in place. He got to carry more weapons when he came out with me as a sort of junior marshal, because he didn’t have to hide that he was armed. Hiding weapons in everyday clothes could be a challenge.

‘How do we find the body?’ Hatfield asked.

‘I’m going to question Little Henry at the hospital and Deputy Gutterman about the sheriff’s attack and see if I can get a clue to a location.’

‘Can’t you just ask the vampires in custody tonight?’

‘Yeah, but once night falls this rogue is going to be even stronger and harder to find and kill than he was earlier today, so I’d really like to find the original body and take care of things before the sun goes down.’

Nicky picked up a pocket-sized .308 pistol from the bed. He made some soft remark, but I knew that it was some remark on size and implying penis size comparison in some way. It was a guy thing. I knew that Domino had nothing to be ashamed of in that area. He got his Beretta .45 out of the holster at his side and made some soft remark back, probably belittling Nicky’s size since he carried a nine-millimeter as his main gun.

Hatfield had been quiet while I watched the men. She finally said, ‘Okay, agreed. What can I do to help?’

‘Ted is on his way to you guys to see what we learned from all the new crime scenes we found.’

‘I’ll call him and be waiting. What do I tell the brass who want to declare the danger over?’

‘Tell them to wait until after tonight. From the time the sun goes down until it rises again will be the test. If nothing happens, then maybe we got him, but I think it will be worse tonight.’

‘Why?’ she asked.

‘What do serial killers do when they’re cornered?’ I asked.

‘Suicide, or kill more people faster, usually.’

‘Yeah,’ I said.

‘Oh,’ she said. ‘Damn, that is not a good thought.’

‘If you want unicorns and rainbows, you’re in the wrong line of work,’ I said.

She gave a small, not entirely happy laugh. ‘Well, that’s the God’s honest truth.’

‘Yep,’ I