This ought to be entertaining.
Nick had just got into position when Virgil waltzed in like he owned the place. Several officers greeted him and acted as if they didn’t see the cattle prod at al . In fact, Virgil fed it through the belt scanner before he walked through the upright one—al the while talking to the officers.
He was putting his shoes on when the cattle prod came out.
One of the officers picked it up and held it out to Virgil.
“Don’t forget your umbrel a, Mr. Ward.”
“Thanks, Cabal. I know it’s not supposed to rain, but I believe in always being prepared.”
“I hear you. Especial y here in N’awlins. You never know when a downpour’s going to hit. As I always say, you don’t like the weather? Wait a minute.”
Laughing, Virgil took the cattle prod and headed for the hal way.
Nick was aghast as Virgil disappeared from his sight without anyone saying anything about his weapon.
You know, if I did that, they’d body slam me down and shoot me in the head for good measure.
Stunned by what he’d seen, Nick made his way back to the SUV where the others were waiting.
Bubba arched a brow at him. “That was quick.” Nick buckled himself into his seat. “I mostly wanted to see if Virgil made it past security.”
Caleb looked smug, but didn’t say anything.
“And?” Mark asked.
“Don’t ask me how, but he did. They didn’t even see it. It was like the cattle prod was invisible or something.” Bubba frowned. “How?”
Simi let out a peeved huff. “He’s a vampire, demon, human people. Jeez, didn’t any of you notice?” Mark scoffed, “Most lawyers are. Ain’t never met one yet what wasn’t a bloodsucker or a soulsucker. Of course, in my case, they’re all money suckers.” Caleb’s phone started ringing. He picked it up and answered it. “Yeah?” He listened for a second, then said,
“Wait. I’m putting you on speaker.” He switched it on. “Now repeat what you just told me.”
“What the hel ’s in this cattle prod? I about launched the kid through the wal .”
Caleb snorted. “Not that part, Virgil. Move on.”
“Okay, I shocked him and now’s he’s squal ing like a girl, wanting his mommy. He says he has no idea of how he got here. I asked him about biting the kid and he has no idea what I’m talking about. Best of al , he’s no longer trying to eat my brains, which have to be missing for me to agree to this. So to answer your experiment, I think it works.” Bubba looked skeptical. “Can we trust his report?”
“You do know I can hear you, right?” Virgil’s tone was irritated.
“Yeah,” Bubba drawled, “and I repeat, can we trust you?”
“Wel , since I don’t have a dog in this fight, yeah. Why would I lie? Not that I’m not beyond those ethics. I ful y believe in whatever lie wil set me free. But in this case, I’m being honest. The kid’s now clean. Listen for yourself. … ”
“I want to go home. Why am I here? I don’t understand what happened. … ”
Caleb turned the speaker off. “Thanks, Virgil. I’l get the payment to you later.” He paused, then looked at Mark and Bubba. “You guys need your cattle prod back?”
“Absolutely,” Mark said. “We got some people to shock.” Caleb nodded, then spoke into the phone. “If you don’t mind, please bring it back to us.”
Virgil appeared before he could hang up the phone.
This time, Nick was the one who jumped as Bubba got out to return the cattle prod to the back of the SUV.
Virgil eyed Nick closely as he studied him through the truck window. “Don’t I know you?”
Nick shook his head as a strange chil went over his body that made his skin crawl. Virgil definitely wasn’t what he seemed. “I don’t think so.”
Caleb cleared his throat.
Virgil glanced over at him and something strange passed between them. When he turned his attention back to Nick, his look was guarded and cold. “Nice to meet you, Nick.”
“How do you know my name?”
Virgil didn’t answer. “I better get back. I have night court in an hour and don’t want to miss it. My first case is a doozie: Some guy beat up another on Bourbon with a hot dog before he tried to kil his victim by drowning him in a puddle.” He literal y vanished.
Bubba turned around in the seat to stare at Caleb.
“Interesting friend you got there.”
“You have no idea.”
Mark scratched at his ear. “We need to let Tabitha and crew know how to fight them.”
Madaug fished his phone out and pressed the auto dial for his brother. “I’m on it.”
Bubba pul ed out of the parking space and headed back to the store. “Al right, we have half the equation. We know we can turn them human again. But the question is, how are so many getting their hands on the game?”
Mark shook his head. “Someone else has to be disseminating it.”
Nick scowled at the unfamiliar word. “Dis-a what?”
“Disseminating,” Mark repeated. “It means distributing it.”