Great; Robert, one of my least favorite vampires. "Hi, Robert, this is Anita. I need to speak to Jean-Claude."
He hesitated, then said, "I'll transfer you to his office phone. It's a new system, so if I disconnect you, call back."
The phone clicked before I could answer. A moment of silence, and the voice came on the line. You can criticize a lot about Jean-Claude, but he gives good phone.
"Good evening, ma petite." That was it, all he said, but even over the buzzing phone his voice was like fur inside my skull.
"I'm near Branson. I need to contact the Master of the City down here."
"No 'Good evening, Jean-Claude, how are you doing?'? Just down to business. How terribly rude, ma petite."
"Look, I don't have time for games right now. Some vampires down here are on the rampage. They've kidnapped a young boy. I want to find him before they can make him one of them."
"How young is the boy?"
"Sixteen."
In centuries past, ma petite, that was not considered a child."
"It isn't legal age right this minute."
"Did he go willingly?"
"No."
"You know that for a fact, or were you merely told he was kidnapped?"
"I talked to him before. He didn't go willingly."
Jean-Claude sighed. The sound slithered down my skin like cool fingers. "What do you want of me, ma petite?"
"I want to talk to the Master of the City down here. I need the name. I'm assuming you do know who the Master is down here?"
"Of course, but it is not that simple."
"We only have three nights to save him, and a hell of a lot less if they just want a snack."
"The Master will not talk to you without a guide to take you in."
"Send someone, then."
"Who? Robert? Willie? Neither of them is powerful enough to be your escort."
"If you mean they can't protect me, I can protect myself."
"I know you can take care of yourself, ma petite. You have made that abundantly clear. But you do not look as dangerous as you are. You might have to shoot one or two to teach them their place. If you got out alive, they would not help you."
"I want to get this boy back intact, Jean-Claude. Work with me here."
"Ma petite..."
I had an image of Jeff Quinlan's brown eyes. His room with its cowboy wallpaper. "Help me, Jean-Claude."
He was silent for a moment. "I am the only one powerful enough to be your escort. Do you wish me to drop everything and rush down to you?"
It was my turn to be quiet. Put like that, it didn't sound right. It sounded like a big favor. I didn't want to be indebted to him. But I'd probably live through owing him a favor. Jeff Quinlan might not.
"Fine," I said.
"You want me to come help you?"
I gritted my teeth and said, "Yes."
"I will fly down tomorrow night."
"Tonight."
"Ma petite, ma petite, what am I to do with you?"
"You said you'd help me."
"And I will, but these things take time."
"What things?"
"It might be helpful if you thought of Branson as a foreign country. A potentially hostile foreign country where I am working to get us safe passage. There are customs to be observed. If I barge in, it will be seen as a declaration of war."
"Isn't there any way to start tonight?" I asked. "Short of starting a war?"
"Perhaps, but if you wait one more night, ma petite, we can enter much more safely. "
"We can take care of ourselves. Jeff Quinlan can't."
"That is his name?"
"Yeah."
He took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh that made me shiver. I would have told him to stop that, but it would have amused him, so I didn't.
"I will fly down tonight. How do I contact you?"
I gave him the name of my hotel and then, with a sigh, my beeper number.
"I will call you when I arrive."
"How long will it take you to fly this far?"
"Anita, do you think I am going to fly myself down, as a bird would?"
I didn't like the faint amusement in his voice, but I answered truthfully. "It was a thought."
He laughed, and it raised goose-bumps on my arms. "Oh, ma petite, ma petite, you are precious."
Just what I wanted to hear. "So how are you getting here?"
"My private jet."
Of course, he had a private jet. "When can you be here?"
"I will be there as soon as I can, my impatient flower."
"I prefer ma petite to flower."
"As you like, ma petite."
"I want to see the Master of Branson tonight before dawn."
"You have made that abundantly clear, and I will try."
"Do more than try."
"You are feeling guilty about this boy; why?"
"I'm not feeling guilty."
"Responsible, then," he said.
I sat there, not sure what to say. He was right. "I don't suppose you read my mind just then?"
"No, ma petite, just your voice and your impatience."
I hated that he knew me that well. Hated it. "Yeah, I feel responsible."
"Why?"
"I was in charge."
"Did you do all you could to keep him safe?"
"I had hosts put at every entrance."
"Someone let them in, then?"
"They had a doggie door that exited through the garage, into the house wall. They didn't want to cut a hole through any of the outer doors."
"Was there a child vampire among them?"
"No."
"Then how?"
I described the thin, skeletal vampire. "It was almost a form change. He changed back in seconds. Once he changed back, he could have passed for human in dim light. I've never seen anything like it."
"I've only seen the ability once," he said.
"You know who it is, don't you?"
"I will be with you as soon as I am able, ma petite."
"You sound serious all of a sudden; why?"
He gave a small laugh, but this one was bitter, like swallowing broken glass. It hurt just to hear it. "You know me too well, ma petite."
"Just answer the question."
"Did the boy who was taken look younger than his years?"
"Yeah; why?"
Silence thick enough to slice was the only answer.
"Talk to me, Jean-Claude."
"Have there been any other young boys gone missing?"
"Not to my knowledge, but I haven't asked."
"Ask," he said.
"How young?"
"Twelve, fourteen, older if they look young enough."
"Like Jeff Quinlan," I said.
"I fear so."
"Is this vampire into more than just kidnapping?"
"What do you mean, ma petite?"
"Murder, not just biting them, but murder."
"What sort of murder?"
I hesitated. I didn't discuss ongoing police investigations with the monsters.
"I know you do not trust me, ma petite, but it is important. Tell me of these deaths, please."
He didn't say please very often. I told him. Not in great detail, but enough.
"Were they violated?"
"What do you mean, violated?" I asked.
"Violated, ma petite, violated. There are other words for it, but none better for children."
"Oh," I said. "I don't know if they were sexually assaulted. They were still clothed."
"There are things that can be done without removing clothing, ma petite. But the abuse would have happened before the killings. Systematic abuse over a period of weeks or months."
"I'll find out if they were assaulted." An idea occurred to me. "Would this vamp ever do a girl?"
"By 'do,' you mean sex?"
"Yeah."
"If pressed for company, he would take a young girl, prepubescent, but only if he could find nothing else."
I swallowed hard. We were talking about children like they were things, objects. "No, this girl looked like a woman. She didn't look young."
"Then, no, he would not willingly touch her."
"What do you mean, willingly? What other choice would there be?"
"His master could order him to do it, and he might, if he feared the master enough. Though I cannot think of many people that he would fear enough to do something he found repugnant."