Blood Game

SIXTEEN

CALEB DREW UP A MAP OF the interior of St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral on his laptop, scanned it quickly, then took off across town.

The interior of the sanctuary of the church appeared to be as grand and rich as Jelak could wish for his final resurrection. Choir stall facing the altar. Two anterooms leading off the sanctuary. The meeting rooms were in an adjacent building linked by a covered walkway.

So where would Jelak keep Quinn?

Quinn had known he was in a church, so it would follow that he’d been aware of religious artifacts. Meeting rooms were usually for classes and less identifiable. The chances were that Quinn had been in the main part of the church. Choir chancel. Sanctuary. Anteroom.

Which one?

He’d start in the choir chancel and work down. It was located above the nave where the congregation sat and he’d be less likely to be noticed if he was up there looking down. Most people had a tendency to look straight ahead.

He parked a block from the cathedral and stared for a moment at the tall spires and medieval architecture.

He couldn’t sense Jelak, but the cathedral was surrounded by apartment buildings. Too many people, too much interference at this distance. He’d be fortunate if he could sense him ten yards away. But, then, Jelak wouldn’t be able to sense him either.

Both blind to each other. Level ground.

But they wouldn’t be on level ground once he found him in that cathedral.

The excitement he hadn’t allowed himself to feel was suddenly here, pounding in his veins. After all the years of hunting, Jelak was his.

He got out of the car and moved quickly down the block. No cars in the parking lot, but a small gray Honda was parked in readiness on the street in front of the huge doors of the main entrance.

“All set to go. You’re ready to take your final kill,” he murmured. “But are you ready for me, Jelak?”

HE WAS NOT IN the choir chancel.

But Caleb found the slumped body of a priest on the stairs leading up to it. Evidently the church had not been vacant as Eve had hoped. He stepped around the body and swiftly climbed the stairs.

No Jelak. But from this vantage point, Caleb could see the golden goblet set out on the altar, which was covered in scarlet velvet. Jelak was clearly planning on bringing Eve back from Allatoona for the ritual.

His gaze wandered around the sanctuary below him.

Jelak wasn’t in the sanctuary either.

Then one of the anterooms.

Which one? Left or right of the altar?

Choices.

He couldn’t risk going into the anterooms from the sanctuary. He’d have to go outside and around the church to see if there were any windows in the anterooms.

Fast.

He was only ten minutes ahead of Eve, and he wanted to try to get all this over before she arrived at the cathedral. Getting Quinn safely away from Jelak was their top priority.

It was not Caleb’s priority.

He had to destroy Jelak in the quickest way possible no matter who was in his way.

“IT’S TIME WE LEFT. I’LL need you to walk to the car.” Jelak cut the ropes that bound Joe’s ankles. “I admit I like the idea of returning to Allatoona. It will bring back memories of an interesting kill. Naturally, Nancy Jo Norris wasn’t anywhere near the status of Eve, but she was surprisingly rich in strength for one so young. And she was the first one of my kills they called you in to investigate. You should have some nostalgic feeling for Allatoona too.”

“Nostalgia? I felt disgust that some slimeball would kill a nice kid like that.” Joe flexed his ankles to get the blood circulating. He didn’t have the use of his hands, but he was good with his feet. Watch for the chance, then a roundhouse kick to the belly and another to the throat. “But then I found out that you were a coward and a nutcase and that ‘slimeball’ would have been a supreme compliment.”

Jelak’s lips tightened. “Did I tell you what great pleasure I had inflicting all those wounds on you? I might keep you alive for a while after the resurrection to play with you some more.”

“Resurrection? You actually believe that crap? It’s all been for nothing, Jelak. If you did manage to kill Eve, you’d still be the pitiful gargoyle you’ve been all your life.”

“You lie,” he said through his teeth. “You know nothing. Caleb could tell you. He knows how close I am.” He drew a breath and straightened. “I’m going to go and collect my goblet and my knife. I’m planning on bringing your Eve back here, but you can never tell what can happen. I believe in being prepared.” He suddenly chuckled. “Like our little Girl Scout, Mary Lou. You do realize I’ll go back for her?”

“I considered the possibility.”

“It’s not a possibility.” He grabbed his black Croco case and headed for the door. “I’ll leave you to dwell on that while I go pack my beautiful goblet.”

The moment he went out of the room, Joe got to his feet. Though still bound to the chair, he half hopped to the door. He’d wait to one side and hook his tied hands over Jelak’s neck and twist until—

“You look completely absurd,” Caleb said as he climbed through the window. “You know your chances of taking him out are practically nil tied up like a Thanksgiving turkey.”

Relief poured through him. “Then untie me, dammit.”

“I’m in the process.” Caleb took a knife out of his pocket as he glided across the room. “But cutting you free is more practical. I need you to be out that window in just a few minutes to stop Eve from coming to your rescue.” He was sawing through the ropes as he was speaking. “Damn, you’re cut to pieces. You look like a pincushion. Some of those wounds will need stitches.”

“Do you have a gun?”

“Yes, but I’m not giving it up. I don’t have time to argue. I can sense Jelak, and he’s damn close. He’s probably not reached a stage of sensitivity that will let him sense me with all this interference around us, but I can’t be sure.” He stepped back when Joe was freed. “Go out that window and find Eve.”

“Not when I’m this close. Jelak will be coming through that door any minute.” He added grimly. “And I’m no longer tied like that turkey you mentioned.”

“You’re being troublesome, Quinn.”

“Tough.”

Caleb slipped the gun from his jacket pocket and pointed it at him. “Get out, Quinn. Find Eve before Jelak does. She should be here any minute. I won’t have you in my way.” He met his eyes. “I won’t kill you, but I’ll make sure you won’t be a bother to me. Don’t think I won’t use it.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt that.” He hesitated, then ran to the window and slid his legs over the sill. “I’ll find Eve. I’ll make sure she’s safe, then I’ll come back. And I’m not sure who I’ll take out first. Jelak or you.”

EVE NOTICED CALEB’S CAR immediately when she pulled up at St. Francis.

It was parked across from the cathedral.

He had said he wouldn’t wait for her. He must be inside. She hesitated, then swiftly climbed the steps to the massive doors of the entrance. Try to slip inside as quietly as she could if the door was open.

It was open. Was Caleb or Jelak responsible? She wasn’t going to worry about that now.

No one was in the vestibule.

She moved toward the sanctuary, warily looking on either side, peering into the shadows.

No one.

The first thing Eve saw when she entered the sanctuary was the golden goblet.

She inhaled sharply. In the darkness of the huge chamber, the candles on either side of the altar caused the goblet to shimmer. She couldn’t stop staring at it.

She shook her head to clear it. This was no time to be caught up in all the evil that goblet represented. Where was Jelak?

Her grasp tightened on the gun in her hand.

And where was Joe?

“You couldn’t wait to see me?” The muzzle of a revolver was pressed to the middle of her back. “I didn’t expect you. But this is much more convenient than Allatoona. You will have to tell me how you found me. But, first, give me that gun.”

“Why? If I do, you’ll kill me. You’ll kill Joe. Go ahead, shoot me. Then you won’t have your damn final ritual.”

“You’re right. So instead, I’ll shoot your hand, you’ll drop the gun. But then you’ll be wounded and won’t be able to defend either yourself or Quinn.”

He was right. It was better to be without a weapon than wounded. Caleb must be around somewhere. She’d have to rely on him. She dropped the gun.

He scooped it up. “And now let’s go see Quinn. I have to make sure you’re secured before I go looking for Caleb. I’m sure he’s with you. I’m surprised he let you come in by yourself.”

“You shouldn’t be surprised.” Caleb stood in the anteroom doorway. “It was always going to be between the two of us, Jelak. That’s why you’ve always been afraid.”

Jelak stiffened, back arched, as if struck by a whip. “I’m not afraid of you, Caleb. I’m beyond it. It’s true I was counting on the resurrection, but I don’t need it. I’m strong now.”

But he was afraid, Eve could tell. He was staring at Caleb in defiance, but she could see the faint tremor in the hand that was holding the gun.

She didn’t blame him. In this moment, Caleb was truly intimidating. She had become accustomed to him in the past days and was no longer constantly aware of the power she had noticed on that first meeting. But it was as if he’d suddenly shrugged off a casual cloak to reveal authority, menace, and a deadliness that shocked her. He exuded, radiated, shimmered with it.

He started to walk toward Jelak.

“Stay away.” Jelak lifted his gun in panic.

“Why? You’re so strong. You used all their blood to make you that way. All their strength and intelligence and will.”

“You’re still angry about Maria Givano.” His lip curled. “She was nothing. I thought I’d get a jump start to the resurrection with her. It was too good an opportunity to miss. I had to experiment when I found out that she might have the power.”

“You made a mistake.”

“Yes, she had no power.”

“No, your mistake was killing her. It’s going to bring you down.” He took another step forward. “You’re still so much weaker than I am. You’re shaking. Your blood is pounding. You’re feeling it, aren’t you?”

“No.” Jelak’s voice was hoarse. “I’m strong. And I’ll be stronger when I kill you.” His finger started to squeeze the trigger.

“No!” Eve jumped forward, jerking Jelak’s gun aside.

“Bitch!” His hand swung around and knocked her to the floor.

“Keep down, Eve,” Caleb called as he moved forward. “It’s okay.”

Okay? Jelak was going to kill him.

“Stay away from me, Caleb.” Jelak was firing as he dove behind a pew.

Caleb had a gun, Eve knew. Why wasn’t he shooting back?

Another shot.

The wood on the pew next to Caleb splintered as a bullet plowed into it.

“I told you that your hand was shaking,” Caleb said.

A bullet suddenly grazed Eve’s cheek.

“Stay away, or I’ll kill her,” Jelak said. “I’ll do it, Caleb.”

“The hell you will.” Joe was suddenly beside Eve, shoving her to one side and putting his body between her and Jelak. “Stop wasting time. Get the son of a bitch, Caleb.”

Joe. Safe. Alive. Her arms closed around him.

“Keep her out of the way.” Caleb’s gaze was fastened on Jelak. “Put the gun down, Jelak.”

Two shots plowed erratically into the altar to the left of Caleb.

“Missed again. Give up, Jelak.”

“I won’t give up. I’ll be as strong as you. Stronger.”

“Well, it wouldn’t matter if you gave up anyway. I’d actually prefer that you didn’t. But you know what’s coming, don’t you? Your teacher Donari told you what to expect if I caught up with you. That’s why you’ve been on the run.”

“It won’t happen.” He fired again at Caleb. “That was a lie. Even if it wasn’t, I’m too close to resurrection for you to be able to—stay back!” It was a scream.

Caleb kept coming. “It wasn’t a lie. Donari told you many lies, but that wasn’t one of them. I knew the night that you killed Maria Givano that was the way you were going to die.”

“I won’t die. I’ll be a god.”

“No, you played the Blood Game all these years, and now you’ve lost. It’s time to give the blood back.” He was within a few feet of Jelak now. “No resurrection. Never.”

“No!” Jelak jumped to his feet and started running toward the anteroom. “I’ll get away from you. Just a few more kills. I’ll start again and—” He stopped, his hands going to his throat.

He screamed.

Eve wanted to scream, too, as she saw his face. It was contorted, flushed, and, as she watched, blood began to trickle out of his eyes like dark tears.

“Just a little blood now,” Caleb said. “I want the pain to start. Convulsions, I think. Do you know that convulsions can break your bones?”

Jelak was falling, his whole body shuddering, shaking with the force of the convulsions.

“Did any ribs break yet?” Caleb asked. “They will, Jelak.”

Jelak was trying to crawl away, but he started howling with pain as the convulsions increased. “Make it—stop.” He looked pleadingly back over his shoulder. “I’ll do anything to—”

“Yes, you will,” Caleb said. “And it will stop soon. I’ve no intention of a having a broken rib shatter and pierce your heart. It would be too easy. Just a minute more.”

Eve flinched as Jelak screamed again. She could almost feel his agony.

“Now it’s time for the blood,” Caleb said.

The convulsions abruptly stopped.

“Give it all back,” Caleb said softly. “All the blood you stole. All the kills, all the lives. First the blood tears, then the rush to the brain that will cause massive strokes.” He was moving slowly toward him again. “Do you feel it? Oh yes, I see that you do. They’re coming. Your eyes are rolling back in your head.”

Jelak was whimpering.

“But you haven’t given up all the blood you took. It has to be everything. Now it’s the end of the game.”

Jelak began to gasp as blood began to pour out of his mouth.

He was choking painfully on the blood, Eve realized. He couldn’t get his breath. She wanted to look away but she couldn’t take her eyes from his face.

He was trying to speak, his gaze fixed on Caleb, blood pouring from his lips. He tried to scream.

“That should do it,” Caleb said. “How’s your resurrection going, Jelak?”

A gurgling, a gasp, and Jelak’s body was jerking, shuddering with the force of the blood leaving his body.

Caleb bent over him and looked deep into his eyes. “It’s over. You’re dying. No power. No immortality. You know that, don’t you? I want you to know that you’re nothing.”

And that desperate realization of final defeat was in Jelak’s eyes.

Caleb straightened. “Burn in hell, Jelak.”

Jelak arched upward, then he was still.

Caleb stood looking down at him for a long moment.

Then he turned and walked out of the cathedral.

“DEAR GOD,” EVE WHISPERED, her gaze on Jelak’s body. “What happened? What did he do to him?”

“I don’t believe there’s any question what he did to him,” Joe said. “Just how he did it.”

She shuddered. “No wonder Jelak was running from him if he thought he could do that to him.”

“Personally, I enjoyed the hell out of it.” Joe got to his knees. “I wanted him dead, and Caleb obliged. Though I’d rather have done it myself.”

“Joe . . .” She had suddenly become aware of the multitude of dagger cuts all over his torso. She put her hand out to touch one on his shoulder. “He did that to you . . .”

“I’m okay.”

“You’re not okay.” She saw a two-inch cut in the flesh on his upper back that looked as if it had been hacked out. Just the pain he’d undergone for that wound alone must have terrible. “We need to get you to a doctor.”

He nodded. “Let’s get it over with. Those stitches may hurt as much as Jelak’s carving.”

“I don’t think so.” She was suddenly not feeling nearly as full of horror as she stared back at Jelak. “Bastard. I wish Caleb had made him suffer more.”

“It was probably sufficient. Stroke, brain hemorrhaging, and suffocation.” He took her arm. “And none of it can be proved in any court of law.”

“But we saw it.”

“Even if we testified, which neither of us is inclined to do, we’d be laughed out of court. Jelak died of natural causes.”

“Blood,” Eve said. “The blood killed him.”

“That’s apparently the way Caleb wanted it. The final irony.”

They had come out of the church, and Eve took a deep breath of the cool night air. Only a short time had passed since she had entered the cathedral, but she felt as if she had been in there for a century.

But Joe was safe. Jelak was dead. There would be no more deaths, no more danger from a man who thought he was destined to be a vampire god.

“Okay?” Joe was looking down at her.

She nodded. “You’re the one who is all cut to pieces. I’m going to call Jane and tell her you’re alive and functioning and to meet us at the hospital. I know you have to call the precinct and tell them about Jelak.” She took his hand. “But then can we just go home?”

“That sounds good to me. I’m afraid they’ll find more bodies in that cathedral than Jelak’s, but someone else can do that investigation. They can get our statements tomorrow. I’ll have them send someone to the cottage.” He smiled. “After all, I have an excuse. I’ll have the hospital tell the department to put me on sick leave.”

THE SUN FELT WARM AND soothing on Joe’s bare back as he stretched out on the bank of the lake. He smelled the fresh scent of pine and the good clean earth. It was a day when it felt good to be alive.

“Your back still looks terrible,” Nancy Jo said. “Maybe you should have plastic surgery or something.”

“I don’t care about whether I’m a pretty boy or not.” He rolled over to see her sitting a few feet away. “But I might have to have something done to keep Eve from flinching for me every time she sees them. It’s only been a few days. The scars will fade.” He smiled. “It feels really good to get some sun on them.”

She nodded. “I can’t feel sunlight yet. Bonnie says it will take a while.”

“If you decide that you want to stick around. Are you sure there’s not something better around the corner?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t know. But I don’t think I can leave Daddy yet. He needs me.”

“I needed you,” Joe said quietly. “And you came through for me. Thank you, Nancy Jo.”

“I couldn’t let you die.” She shook her head. “And I couldn’t let Jelak win. It would have been horrible. I just had to think of a way to do it. It was Bonnie who showed me how.”

“Bonnie, again.”

Nancy Jo nodded. “She said you had to live.”

“I’m glad the two of you agreed on that point.” He put on his shirt but didn’t bother to button it. “Are you sure your father still needs you? Or is it that you need him?”

“Probably both. But I wouldn’t stay if I didn’t think that it was the best thing for him. He can’t find his way right now. It’s important that he not go down the wrong path.” She smiled. “He wanted to be president. He thought he could help people. I know he can still do it. He just needs someone to nudge him along and keep him from being lonely.”

“That’s an important job, but I can’t think of anyone who could fill it better than you, Nancy Jo.”

She smiled impishly. “I can’t either. With a little help from my friends. But I might get lonely too. Do you mind if I drop in now and then to see you?”

“It would be my pleasure.”

Her smile faded. “You mean that?”

He nodded. “My extreme pleasure.” He chuckled. “After all, you’re the perfect friend. You have very few demands.”

“I demanded you get Jelak.”

“That was an understandable exception.”

“I can’t promise I might not ask something again. I can’t just stand around and watch something go wrong.”

“Then we’ll worry about it when you do.”

She nodded. “You’d be much better off having Bonnie for a friend. But she says that there’s something standing in the way.” She looked at him searchingly. “And I think she’s right. You’re closing up, Joe.”

“Am I? Then maybe she’s right, and there are a few obstacles that are difficult to overcome.”

“Not for her. She’s a great problem solver. She’s helped me along any number of times.”

“Then it must be me.” He got to his feet. “I’m going back to the cottage.”

“Because you don’t want to talk to me about Bonnie.” Nancy Jo was frowning. “Why not? I’d think you’d want to talk to—”

“Nancy Jo, stop being pushy.” He strolled back toward the cottage. “You know the trick. It’s time to do your vanishing act.”

CALEB WAS GETTING OUT of his car when Joe arrived back at the cottage. He stood waiting as Joe walked up the path. “You’re looking better than the last time I saw you. No permanent damage?”

Joe shook his head. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to say good-bye. I’m going to go back to Scotland.” He paused. “And I wanted to express my appreciation for your discretion in making your report. It could have been awkward.”

“Discretion? I only told the truth. Jelak attacked you, but you didn’t try to defend yourself. Then Jelak had a massive stroke and hemorrhage and died. The captain thought it was a bit convenient, but the autopsy bore it out.” He paused. “Otherwise, I would have hung you out to dry. I won’t have Eve being under suspicion for making a false statement.”

He nodded. “You had to protect her.” He glanced at the wounds on Joe’s body. “From Jelak, from me, from the whole damn world. I respect that quality in you.”

“When you’re not trying to shoot me.”

He smiled. “You got in my way. I was in hunt mode. I told you I wouldn’t have given you a serious wound.”

“Hunt mode,” he repeated. “That’s quite an arsenal you used on Jelak.”

“A small talent, but my own. Not anything as interesting as communing with spirits.”

“Not a small talent. Very deadly. Was Jelak special, or is it your common modus operandi?”

He was silent. “I think I’ll let you work that out for yourself.”

“I’ve already started. I contacted the Italian police. In the last ten years there have been a number of massive strokes among the cult group that originated in Fiero. What a coincidence.”

“But none that appeared to be anything but natural deaths. Isn’t that right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then you have your answer.” He smiled. “And now, with your permission, I’d like to go inside and say good-bye to Eve and Jane. I feel as if I’ve grown very close to them.”

“When you weren’t using them.”

He nodded. “When I wasn’t using them. I had to strike a delicate balance.”

Joe stared at him in disbelief. “You actually mean that.”

“Of course. You’re a man who sees only one path and forges forward on it to the end. I have to walk many paths, and when I see quicksand, I have to skirt around it.”

“And do a balancing act.”

He smiled. “Exactly. Now may I go in and see Jane and Eve?”

Joe stared at him for a moment, then turned and strode up the steps. “If they want to see you. I’ll ask them.”

“They’ll want to see me.” Caleb leaned back on the door of his car. “They’re two women who like to put a period at the end of an episode. Good-bye is a period.”