“What’s going on?”
“Some jerk did a ring and run. There had better not be a bag of shit on fire on my front porch.”
A warning niggled at the back of my mind.
“Don’t open your door. Wait until I get there.”
“It’s probably just teenagers playing pranks.”
“Let’s be safe. I can be there in minutes.”
I still didn’t know where she lived or how far it was from my apartment, but in this situation I planned to break all sorts of records getting to her house.
I heard the sound of locks being undone.
“Caroline, listen to me.”
“It’s fine. I’m just going to make sure there’s nothing on the porch.”
I stood and ran to my bedroom, pulling on the first pair of jeans and t-shirt I could find.
“There’s no one here,” Caroline said.
“Do not go outside,” I ordered.
“Wait, I think I see something.”
“Stay inside.”
“I’m not letting some idiot damage my property,” Caroline snapped.
She was going outside and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. What I wouldn’t give for the ability of compulsion through cell phone connection.
There was a pause where I could hear movement.
“What is that? What are you doing?” Caroline sounded freaked out like she had just seen something she couldn’t explain.
“Get inside. Stop asking questions and get inside.” I struggled to sound calm.
A door slammed shut and then Caroline yelled, “I’m calling the police.”
There was a loud crash and the sound of splintering wood followed by a short scream. The phone cut off and I was left with a cut connection blaring in my ear.
“Damn it. She never listens.” I dialed the phone. It went to voice mail. I dialed again and again. Same result.
Kneeling by the safe in my nightstand, I inputted the code and pulled out the Judge. Chances were if you shot someone with this, they weren’t getting back up. At least if they were human. With the spooks, you could never tell. It might slow them down long enough for us to run away or they might shrug it off.
After a brief hesitation, I grabbed the special rounds I’d researched how to make on the internet. Filled with silver nitrate, I was hoping the silver would be powerful enough to slow down a vamp or a werewolf since both were highly allergic to the metal. This would be its first field test. If my measurements for the homemade bullet were off, it would result in a misfire, rendering the gun useless until I could clear the chamber and reload the magazine.
It was a risk I was willing to take. The last time I used normal rounds on a spook he had shrugged them off like they were no more than an irritating bee sting.
I should never have asked Caroline for her help. I should never have involved her. When it was clear what sort of party that gala was, I should have dragged her out of there whether it permanently damaged our friendship or not.
I just hoped she was still alive when I got there. The nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach didn’t give me much hope. These weren’t the sort of people to take prisoners.
* * *
The city sped past as I reached speeds not even a professional biker in the tour de France could achieve.
