The Book of Death (Bourbon Kid 4)

you did. Maybe you’re still
dreaming.’
    ‘Well then I hope I don’t wake up.
Ever.’
    He kissed her back. ‘It’s no
dream, I promise you,’ he said. ‘I’m back. And I’m back for good.’
    ‘I can’t begin to tell you how
great it is to hear you say that. I had this horrible feeling for a minute
there that you might have just come back for the one night. Like maybe you had
a girl in every town.’
    ‘I do have a girl in every town. I
travel around on an eighteen-year circuit. You’re my girl in Santa Mondega.’
    Beth gave him a playful shove. ‘In
your dreams!’
    ‘I promise you, if I’m going
anywhere, you’re coming with me.’
    ‘For now, how about just coming
back to bed with me? It’s cold in there without you.’
    ‘Sure. I was just gonna watch the
news for a bit.’ He changed the channel over to the local news station. A
reporter in the news studio was reading out the latest news with a grave
expression. Even his voice sounded grave. Beth looked at the TV screen and
frowned. ‘Wait a sec,’ she said. ‘What’s that about?’
    A scrolling yellow bar at the
bottom of the screen read –

 

HUNDREDS
DEAD AS BOURBON KID KILLS AGAIN

 
    ‘Oh my God,’ she gasped. ‘I hope
no one I know has been killed.’
    As if to confirm her worst fears
the reporter reading out the news announced that one of the Bourbon Kid’s
victims had been her boss at the museum, Bertram Cromwell.
    Beth was horrified. Cromwell was
one of the only people in the city who she could genuinely call a friend. She
put her hand over her mouth. ‘I don’t believe it,’ she said, ‘Cromwell was the
nicest man in town. He’s the only reason I have a job. And now the Bourbon Kid
has murdered him. His wife will be devastated. This is awful.’
    JD rubbed her back to comfort her.
‘Maybe this is a sign that you should quit the museum,’ he said. ‘In fact, how
about quitting this shithole town altogether?’
    Beth barely heard what he said.
Her thoughts were only of Bertram Cromwell and his family. ‘I hope they catch
the Kid and give him the electric chair.’
    JD squeezed her in close. ‘I think
the Kid was killing off all the local vampires. I doubt he had anything to do
with Cromwell’s murder.’
    ‘Vampires?’ said Beth, snapping
out of her maudlin thoughts. ‘Like that thing that attacked us that time on the
pier?’
    ‘Yeah.’
    ‘Was that really a vampire though?
I mean, I’ve never come across a vampire since then. I was beginning to wonder
if I’d imagined it.’
    ‘The city was rife with them. Bet
they’re all dead now.’
    ‘Yes but the Bourbon Kid is still
at large. He’s a bigger menace than the vampires, I think.’
    The scrolling yellow bar on the
news program suggested otherwise.

 
    BREAKING
NEWS – BOURBON KID APPREHENDED AND KILLED BY SPECIAL FORCES

 
    JD
pulled her in towards him and kissed her again, this time firmer than before.
‘See, you’re safe. The Bourbon Kid is dead, gone forever. And so are all the
vampires. There’s nothing to be afraid of.’
    Beth forced a smile. Her thoughts
suddenly returned to the piece of cloth with the heart sewn into it. She had it
in her hand.   ‘You left this on your
pillow,’ she said, holding it up.
    ‘That’s for you,’ said JD.
    ‘What is it exactly?’
    He paused. ‘What do you think it
is?’
    ‘A piece of cloth with your
initials on.’
    ‘Then that’s what it is.’
    ‘There’s more to it than that,’
she said, shoving him playfully. ‘This was a sign to let me know you were
coming back, right?’
    He smiled. ‘Yeah. Keep hold of that.
I’ll always come back for it. And you won’t have to wait eighteen years again,
I promise.’
    ‘So I can keep it?’
    ‘It’s all yours.’
    Beth looked down at the heart sewn
into the cloth. She now had something of his that carried some meaning. Just
holding it in her hand made her feel safe. As long as she had it, JD’s heart
belonged to her.

 
    Three

 
    Vanity’s club The Swamp was far
more impressive than its title made it sound. Kacy was expecting a real dive
bar in a back alley somewhere. In fact it was a five-storey building on the
South side of the city, situated on a street corner. As they approached the
front entrance, something landed gently on the ground in front of them.
    ‘Is that snow?’ Kacy asked.
    ‘Can’t be,’ said Dante,
dismissively. ‘It’s never snowed in Santa Mondega.’
    ‘What the hell is it then?’
    ‘I don’t know,