Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand
Page 44
He looked at me, half a smile on his lips, and didn’t tell me.
This had probably definitely been a mistake. Dom wouldn’t know anything about Ben and seemed more interested in his party than anything else. The cell phone in my handbag hadn’t rung yet, and I resisted an urge to check again for missed calls. “At least tell me nobody’s dying for this.”
“Dead bodies are very bad for tourism, Kitty.”
They all giggled at that, except the bodyguard vampire, who curled his lip even more. I wanted to knock my head against the table. These weren’t just vampires—they were vapid vampires. Like Dom had collected his followers from the nearest frat and sorority houses. Probably so none of them would be able to out-think him.
The brunette perked up again. “Hey, whatever happened to that bounty hunter? The one who held you hostage on your own show?”
Funny she should ask. “He went to jail earlier this year. Manslaughter.”
She stared. “Whoa. Wicked.”
This from someone who had to drink human blood to survive. Priceless. My martini arrived, and I smiled into it as I took a sip. The alcohol burning down my throat and hitting my blood fortified me.
“Dom, Ben’s gone missing. He was taken by a gangster named Faber—”
“Taken. Like kidnapped?”
“Probably. Do you know anything about Faber or where they might be holding him?”
He shrugged expansively, like it was an affection he’d developed to deflect questions. He’d probably been shrugging like that for decades. “I told you, Kitty. I keep to myself and let the rest take care of themselves. It’s a live-and-let-live kind of town. In a manner of speaking.”
“But you’re supposed to be in charge of this damned town! Don’t you have an ear on the rumor mill? Don’t you know anything? ” Rick would have been able to figure this out. Rick would have known exactly what was going on.
“I know about Faber, and I know he isn’t into kidnapping. Are you sure your guy didn’t just, I don’t know—ditch you or something?”
Ignore it. I counted to ten. Even if I could take claws to his throat, the vampire wouldn’t die from it.
“Kitty,” Dom said, serious now. “If Ben’s missing, if someone took him, I think you’re looking in the wrong place. You know who in this town has it in for werewolves?”
“Who?” I said, glaring, and thinking about the gun show at the Olympus. Wondering if Sylvia and Boris had figured out that Ben’s a werewolf.
“Balthasar and that crowd over at the Hanging Gardens.”
The statement made me pause. Vegas didn’t have werewolves because of Balthasar’s troupe. They were the dominant lycanthropes and kept the others out. Had Balthasar done something to Ben? I shook my head. “Security video showed him with one of Faber’s henchmen.”
“Who maybe isn’t working for Faber.”
“No, I’ve talked to Balthasar and he hasn’t been anything but decent to me. If he was after Ben, why not go after me, as well?”
“I don’t know. I can’t explain how those guys work. You’ve seen them yourself, they’re a little odd.”
That I could agree with. I couldn’t imagine shape-shifting almost every day like that. Whatever Balthasar said to explain it, it couldn’t be healthy. Not to mention the S&M erotica portion of the show. Maybe I was just being judgmental. I didn’t understand the lifestyle, and maybe it scared me. But I didn’t want to think that Balthasar had anything to do with Ben’s disappearance.
Dom had given me everything he was going to give me. Maybe he was right pointing me at Balthasar, maybe he wasn’t. But the conversation was finished, and I was itching to leave.
I had one more question, and I might not get another chance to talk to Dom like this. “What do you know about Odysseus Grant?”
Dom looked confused for a moment, and I frowned with disappointment. Then he called to the bodyguard type. “Hey, Sven—Odysseus Grant. He that magician over at the Diablo?”
“I believe so, sir,” the bodyguard Sven said.
Dom smiled at me. “Odysseus Grant. Magician over at the Diablo.”
I nearly growled. “I know that. I caught his show.”
“Is he any good?” Dom said.
“Yeah, he is. I guess that means you don’t know anything about rumors that some of his magic is real. You know, he pulls a rabbit out of his hat and he really pulls it out of thin air instead of relying on trapdoors and sleight of hand.”
“That’s a good rumor,” he said. “I like it. You think it’s true?”
This conversation was making me want to gnaw on a sofa.
“I don’t know,” I said through gritted teeth. I needed another martini. “I thought you might. So much for that.”
“Maybe we should go to the show and see for ourselves. Does that sound like fun?” the brunette said. They all nodded and murmured, yes, it sounded like fun, but maybe another time, like next week, or month, or something.
I set my elbow on the table and rested my chin on my hand. I put on my cheerful voice. “So what’s it really like being a vampire in Vegas?”
I should never have asked, because it took them forty minutes of chatter to say it was one big party, with a constant stream of fresh blood, literally. I finished a second martini and let the haze numb me.
Most conversations I’d ever had with vampires were frustrating, because vampires were so in love with being inscrutable and mysterious, it was hard to get any information out of them. They generally loved secrets and power and therefore loved letting me know they had secrets. I could usually tell when they were hiding something from me because they came right out and gloated about it.
My conversation with Dom and his flunkies was frustrating, as expected, but for an entirely different reason: because I was convinced that Dom didn’t know a damn thing about anything. When I got back to Denver, I was going to corner Rick and ask him: where the hell had Dom come from, and how had he lasted this long?
I started to get up. “Thanks for the party, Dom, but I really should be—”
“I have a question for you,” Dom said. I froze when he pointed at me. “Why’d you put Harry Burger on your show? That clown doesn’t deserve any airtime.” It took me a moment to register the name and context: the politician who came on the show to push his anti-psychic legislation. He hadn’t managed to convince much of anyone that the concept was even feasible. But he was enough of a character it made him interesting.
This had probably definitely been a mistake. Dom wouldn’t know anything about Ben and seemed more interested in his party than anything else. The cell phone in my handbag hadn’t rung yet, and I resisted an urge to check again for missed calls. “At least tell me nobody’s dying for this.”
“Dead bodies are very bad for tourism, Kitty.”
They all giggled at that, except the bodyguard vampire, who curled his lip even more. I wanted to knock my head against the table. These weren’t just vampires—they were vapid vampires. Like Dom had collected his followers from the nearest frat and sorority houses. Probably so none of them would be able to out-think him.
The brunette perked up again. “Hey, whatever happened to that bounty hunter? The one who held you hostage on your own show?”
Funny she should ask. “He went to jail earlier this year. Manslaughter.”
She stared. “Whoa. Wicked.”
This from someone who had to drink human blood to survive. Priceless. My martini arrived, and I smiled into it as I took a sip. The alcohol burning down my throat and hitting my blood fortified me.
“Dom, Ben’s gone missing. He was taken by a gangster named Faber—”
“Taken. Like kidnapped?”
“Probably. Do you know anything about Faber or where they might be holding him?”
He shrugged expansively, like it was an affection he’d developed to deflect questions. He’d probably been shrugging like that for decades. “I told you, Kitty. I keep to myself and let the rest take care of themselves. It’s a live-and-let-live kind of town. In a manner of speaking.”
“But you’re supposed to be in charge of this damned town! Don’t you have an ear on the rumor mill? Don’t you know anything? ” Rick would have been able to figure this out. Rick would have known exactly what was going on.
“I know about Faber, and I know he isn’t into kidnapping. Are you sure your guy didn’t just, I don’t know—ditch you or something?”
Ignore it. I counted to ten. Even if I could take claws to his throat, the vampire wouldn’t die from it.
“Kitty,” Dom said, serious now. “If Ben’s missing, if someone took him, I think you’re looking in the wrong place. You know who in this town has it in for werewolves?”
“Who?” I said, glaring, and thinking about the gun show at the Olympus. Wondering if Sylvia and Boris had figured out that Ben’s a werewolf.
“Balthasar and that crowd over at the Hanging Gardens.”
The statement made me pause. Vegas didn’t have werewolves because of Balthasar’s troupe. They were the dominant lycanthropes and kept the others out. Had Balthasar done something to Ben? I shook my head. “Security video showed him with one of Faber’s henchmen.”
“Who maybe isn’t working for Faber.”
“No, I’ve talked to Balthasar and he hasn’t been anything but decent to me. If he was after Ben, why not go after me, as well?”
“I don’t know. I can’t explain how those guys work. You’ve seen them yourself, they’re a little odd.”
That I could agree with. I couldn’t imagine shape-shifting almost every day like that. Whatever Balthasar said to explain it, it couldn’t be healthy. Not to mention the S&M erotica portion of the show. Maybe I was just being judgmental. I didn’t understand the lifestyle, and maybe it scared me. But I didn’t want to think that Balthasar had anything to do with Ben’s disappearance.
Dom had given me everything he was going to give me. Maybe he was right pointing me at Balthasar, maybe he wasn’t. But the conversation was finished, and I was itching to leave.
I had one more question, and I might not get another chance to talk to Dom like this. “What do you know about Odysseus Grant?”
Dom looked confused for a moment, and I frowned with disappointment. Then he called to the bodyguard type. “Hey, Sven—Odysseus Grant. He that magician over at the Diablo?”
“I believe so, sir,” the bodyguard Sven said.
Dom smiled at me. “Odysseus Grant. Magician over at the Diablo.”
I nearly growled. “I know that. I caught his show.”
“Is he any good?” Dom said.
“Yeah, he is. I guess that means you don’t know anything about rumors that some of his magic is real. You know, he pulls a rabbit out of his hat and he really pulls it out of thin air instead of relying on trapdoors and sleight of hand.”
“That’s a good rumor,” he said. “I like it. You think it’s true?”
This conversation was making me want to gnaw on a sofa.
“I don’t know,” I said through gritted teeth. I needed another martini. “I thought you might. So much for that.”
“Maybe we should go to the show and see for ourselves. Does that sound like fun?” the brunette said. They all nodded and murmured, yes, it sounded like fun, but maybe another time, like next week, or month, or something.
I set my elbow on the table and rested my chin on my hand. I put on my cheerful voice. “So what’s it really like being a vampire in Vegas?”
I should never have asked, because it took them forty minutes of chatter to say it was one big party, with a constant stream of fresh blood, literally. I finished a second martini and let the haze numb me.
Most conversations I’d ever had with vampires were frustrating, because vampires were so in love with being inscrutable and mysterious, it was hard to get any information out of them. They generally loved secrets and power and therefore loved letting me know they had secrets. I could usually tell when they were hiding something from me because they came right out and gloated about it.
My conversation with Dom and his flunkies was frustrating, as expected, but for an entirely different reason: because I was convinced that Dom didn’t know a damn thing about anything. When I got back to Denver, I was going to corner Rick and ask him: where the hell had Dom come from, and how had he lasted this long?
I started to get up. “Thanks for the party, Dom, but I really should be—”
“I have a question for you,” Dom said. I froze when he pointed at me. “Why’d you put Harry Burger on your show? That clown doesn’t deserve any airtime.” It took me a moment to register the name and context: the politician who came on the show to push his anti-psychic legislation. He hadn’t managed to convince much of anyone that the concept was even feasible. But he was enough of a character it made him interesting.
