The Book of Death (Bourbon Kid 4)

she stepped back inside her apartment and closed the door in
his face.
    A second later he banged on the
door and yelled through it. ‘Beth, take some time to think this through! Half
the cops in this city are vampires and those that aren’t are scumbags. You know
that. And you know me .’
    ‘No I don’t!’
    She heard him sigh in
frustration, before speaking through the door once more in a calmer voice than
before. ‘Listen, I’m gonna go pack up some stuff and be back in an hour. Just
like we planned. Take the hour to think things through. My face is all over the
news. I have to leave town, with or without you.’
    Beth felt tears running down her
cheeks. All those years waiting for him to return had been for nothing.
Eighteen years had been wasted living in the misguided belief that a guy she
had met one night at a Halloween ball was her soul mate. She had been
infatuated with a man she knew nothing about. A man that had turned out to be
the Bourbon Kid, a renowned serial killer and ruthless murderer of innocent
people.
    ‘Just go, Jack,’ she said,
sobbing. ‘And don’t bother coming back in an hour. I won’t change my mind. I
don’t want to see you ever again.’

 
    Seventeen

 
    An hour had passed since Flake and
Sanchez had toasted Ulrika Price in the locker room below the station. Flake
had taken the mysterious Book with No Name back up to reception to hide it in
her desk drawer. They had agreed not to tell Dan Harker or anyone else about
what had happened. After all, technically they had just murdered Ulrika Price.
There were no witnesses and fortunately there was no corpse either. Even so,
neither Sanchez nor Flake was willing to have it known around town that they
had killed a vampire and particularly one that was quite possibly of fairly
high significance in the undead community.
    Sanchez had stayed down in the
locker room and done his best to mop up all the evidence. If his mopping skills
were as good as he believed then none of the other officers would ever find out
what had happened. He was well aware that vampires had infiltrated the police
force in the past so discretion about the murder of Ulrika was vital. Not that
there were many officers still alive by the sound of it. Those that weren’t out
on the streets demonstrating that there was still a police presence in the city
were up on the higher floors probably filling out paperwork. Mind you, Sanchez
had a suspicion that there were free donuts somewhere upstairs and the rest of
the force were joyfully tucking into them.
    Just as he had finished mopping
all the blood and shit out of the elevator, Captain Harker reappeared. He came
down to the locker room via the stairs and threw a black bin liner full of
clothes at Sanchez. It hit him in the chest and landed on the floor just
outside the elevator.
    ‘That’s your uniform, Sanchez,’
said Harker. ‘You’re an awkward size, so until we get a custom made one for
you, that’ll have to do.’
    ‘Thanks,’ said Sanchez, dreading
what he might find in the bag.
    Harker stepped into the
elevator. ‘You’ve done a great job here,’ he said inspecting the walls for any
evidence of the previous night’s bloodshed. When he was satisfied that
everything was spotless he pushed Sanchez back out into the locker room. ‘Stick
your uniform on and then meet me up at reception,’ he said pressing a button on
the elevator keypad. The elevator doors closed behind him and Sanchez was left
alone in the locker room with a black bin liner containing his new law
enforcement outfit.
      He opened the bin liner expecting
something completely inferior to what all the other officers had. He was right.
It would be inferior to most people, but not to Sanchez. He couldn’t wait to
get it on and see how it looked.
    It was a beige coloured highway
patrol officer’s outfit, complete with a matching Stetson hat and a nightstick.
The pants were a bit tight and in danger of ripping up the ass if he bent over
too quickly, but they still looked cool. The shirt was equally tight and showed
off his man boobs a little more than he would have liked, but with the Highway
Patrol badge on the right breast pocket it looked awesome. The hat fitted
snugly on his head, which was pleasing, but the best part of the outfit was
undoubtedly the pair of mirrored sunglasses. Even though he was indoors and it
was overcast and snowing outside, Sanchez was keeping those beauties on at all
times.
    After strutting up and down