I grinned. "So much for the theory that this was a perfect night to test this beastie's speed."
"True. But unlike you, I'm not above using my psychic skills to get me out of trouble."
I raised an eyebrow. "You obviously haven't read the papers lately." Not that I actually had, either. Jack had told me the news over lunch one day
He glanced at me as he slowed. "What do you mean?"
"All police and emergency services have been issued with psychic deadeners as part of their everyday kits."
He swore softly. I just kept on grinning. Behind us, the blue-and-red lights drew closer, revealing the candy colors of the police car. Quinn pulled over to the side of the freeway and two cops climbed out. One moved toward Quinn's side, the other to mine
We both lowered our windows, and Quinn said, voice ultrapolite, "Is there a problem, Off - "
His words were cut off by an odd popping sound. He jerked wildly, then became still, and though my concern surged, I had no chance to see what was going on
Not with the barrel of a gun appearing two centimeters from the end of my nose Don't move," the cop behind the gun warned. "Or you'll taste lead."
What happened to the right to remain silent and all that crap? That they didn't even bother to say the words meant they were after us specifically
Obviously, it had been Gautier in the shadows. But why would he send state coppers after us rather than Directorate personnel?
Though we had stopped, maybe the reason was that simple. We would have been more suspicious of an unmarked car swooping down on us so quickly
My fingers tightened around the door handle, but otherwise, I obeyed the cop's orders. The fact that Quinn hadn't reacted in any way had me worried. Until I knew what was going on, I intended to play along with the current scenario
"We were only speeding," I said, forcing fear into my voice. "Surely pointing guns at us is a bit of an overreaction?"
The cop ignored me, looking over the top of the car again. It suggested they considered me no threat. They'd learn soon enough just how wrong they were
"The vamp out of action?" the cop with the gun asked
"Yeah. The new tasers certainly do the work."
Tasers. Great. That was all we'd needed. Though the weapons had been around for a while, it had only been recently they'd developed one with the right electrical current to affect vampires every bit as efficiently as humans. Quinn would be out of action for hours
A hand reached into the car and, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the wig being tugged off. "It's definitely not Brown."
So Gautier had been suspicious of Quinn rather than me. I wondered what Quinn had done or said to tip him off
"You want to call the retrieval in to headquarters," the gunman continued, "and ask what they want us to do with them?"
The other cop made a grunt of agreement and walked away. I waited a few more seconds then grabbed the gun, wresting it from the cop's hand as I thrust open the door
He staggered backward with a yelp of surprise. I threw the gun into the back and flowed out of the car, knocking the cop out before he knew what had hit him
A booming retort bit through the silence. I dove for the shadows along the side of the road, heard the scream of air, and the sharp sting of pain as the bullet scraped my rump, then I hit the ground and rolled to my feet. Wrapping the shadows around myself, I ran toward the other car. The second cop was still standing near the car door, his gun aimed at the spot where I'd disappeared from sight
I shook my head. When were the authorities going to learn and stop pairing two humans together? It made no sense, not with the introduction of recent incentives that included a fresh, free blood supply to vamps who joined the force. Of course, the Directorate skimmed the cream, while the psych and physical tests prevented a good percentage of the remainder from joining the cop ranks. But there was such an influx of applicants it could take years for the cops to work down the remaining list
I picked up a small stone and padded quietly to the back of the car. The cop was starting to look around. I tossed the stone, waited until it clicked against the road up ahead, then let the shadows unravel and ran at him. He never stood a chance. I had the speed and power of both wolf and vampire, and he was only human. I tucked his unconscious body into the car, turned off the camcorder, then collected the second cop and shoved him into the car as well. Then I ran back to Quinn
I didn't bother feeling for a pulse, mainly because the slow metabolic rate of vamps would make it extremely difficult to find one at the best of times. I unclipped his seat belt and dragged him around to the passenger side. Once he was safely belted back in, I ran around to the driver's side and started the car. Cop central would have called in reinforcements once they'd seen what was happening. We had to get off the freeway, and get rid of the Porsche, as quickly as possible
But I didn't take the first off-ramp, continuing on instead to the Mickleham Road exit. The mob Quinn had hired the Porsche from had a depot at the airport, but I couldn't risk taking the car there with Quinn unconscious. Mickleham Road had an old hotel not far from the freeway, one with the parking tucked nicely around the back and stairs rather than elevators to the rooms. I'd get a room and dump Quinn there, then get rid of the car and return
I pulled off the wig and took out the lenses as I waited for the lights to turn green. Looking a whole lot less ghostly, I pulled into the hotel and stopped at the side of reception rather than out the front under the bright lights. After grabbing my purse from the security box behind the passenger seat, I did up my coat and climbed out. No sense in giving the woman the wrong idea
As it turned out, I shouldn't have bothered. The woman at the counter wouldn't have cared who rented the room as long as they paid up front. When I not only paid up front but asked for their best room - which turned out to be their one and only honeymoon suite - she practically danced on the spot. Obviously, times were a little tough with all the new hotels opening at the airport