Chapter
39
Zack stood in the dark, staring at the
burnt rubble and debris that was all that remained of his
nightclub. The acrid smell of smoke was still strong as he walked
the perimeter of the carnage, his senses searching for some clue
that would tell him who had set fire to the club, but there was no
scent he recognized. Nevertheless, he was certain Nadiya was
responsible for the fire. Whether or not she had set the blaze
herself didn’t matter. He knew in his gut that she was behind it.
It didn’t really matter who’d lit the match.
He blew out a sigh. Ten years of his
life, up in smoke. He swallowed his anger, knowing it was a waste
of time and energy, and focused on the future. He had built the
place from the ground up once, and by damn, he could do it
again.
Pulling his cell phone from his pocket,
he called Scherry to let her know he was in town. He had talked to
her before he left Wolfram to let her know he was on his
way.
“Hey, boss,” she said. “How’s it
hanging?”
Zack shook his head. “It’s hanging just
fine. Meet me in the lobby of Harrah’s in ten
minutes.”
“Yessir, boss. Whatever you say,
boss.”
With a shake of his head, he ended the
call.
Scherry was waiting for him when he
arrived at the hotel. Harrah’s was an impressive place, eighteen
stories high, with everything a tourist could ask for—six
restaurants, a luxurious pool, a spa that featured Roman baths,
Turkish steam, Finnish saunas and Swedish massage, a nightclub, and
a casino that offered all the latest games of chance.
“I booked you a luxury suite under the
name Christopher Lee,” Scherry said, giving him a hug.
“Christopher Lee?” Zack arched a brow
in amusement. Lee was an actor who had played Dracula in a number
of Hammer horror movies.
“The very same,” Scherry said,
grinning. “The concierge assured me your suite is the best the
hotel has to offer.”
“You’re staying here, too,
right?”
“Are you crazy? I can’t afford to stay
here on what you pay me,” she teased, “especially now that I’m out
of a job.”
“Don’t give me any sass, or you’ll be
permanently out of a job. Now, get yourself a room. I’m footing the
bill.”
“Thanks, Zack. As requested, I
scheduled an appointment with your insurance man for tonight at
ten. He’ll meet you here, in the lobby.”
Zack nodded. “Were you able to get in
touch with Waters?”
“Yes. He canceled a trip out of town to
meet you here at eleven.”
“I should have hired you to be my
personal secretary instead of my bartender.”
“I used to be an executive secretary,
in a former life.” Reaching into her jacket pocket, she pulled out
a keycard. “Here you go. Let me know if there’s anything else I can
do for you.”
“Thanks, kid.”
“Are you going to rebuild in the same
place?”
Zack nodded. “Just as soon as I can.
Have you been in touch with any of the other
employees?”
“Yes. They’re all eager to come back.”
She smiled at him. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a
date.”
“Yeah? With who?”
“Just a guy I met last night. His name
is Wayne. He’s a dealer here in the casino.”
Zack nodded. “Have fun. Oh, by the way,
I’m getting married.”
“Married! You? I don’t believe
it.”
“Well, it’s true. She’ll be here next
week.”
“It’s her, isn’t it? That woman I saw
you with a couple of times.”
“Yep. Thanks for taking care of things
while I was away.”
“No problem. I’ll expect an invite to
the wedding, ’cause I won’t believe it unless I see it with my own
eyes.”
“Right.”
Whistling softly, Zack took the
elevator to his suite. He didn’t know what it was costing him, but
he had no complaints. The sitting room was grand. Two comfortable
chairs stood on either side of a round table. There was a desk and
a chair, should he feel the need to write a letter, a high-backed
sofa and a coffee table in front of an entertainment center. Large
windows on either side of the room afforded spectacular views—one
of the lake, the other of the Sierra Nevada.
The bedroom was separate from the
sitting room and featured a king-sized bed flanked by twin end
tables, each of which held a lamp and a phone. His favorite feature
was the room-darkening drapes.
There were two bathrooms—one for him,
one for her. Both had TVs and phones. One bathroom had a Jacuzzi
big enough for two; the other had a walk-in shower, also big enough
for two.
He smiled as he imagined himself and
Kaitlyn relaxing in the Jacuzzi, making love in the
shower.
Ah, Kaitlyn. He missed her
already.
She was much on his mind as he left the
hotel. His first stop was at a clothing store. When he had more
time, he was going to have to buy a whole new wardrobe, since just
about everything he owned had been burned in the fire or left
behind in Romania. But for now, he only needed a few things—jeans,
shirts, underwear, socks, boots. He bought four of everything, then
tossed in a long black coat, not because of the weather, but simply
because he liked it, and it looked good on him, judging by the
admiration in the eyes of the voluptuous saleswoman. He thanked her
for her help, paid the bill, and asked her to send his purchases to
the hotel.
Leaving the store, he went in search of
prey.
It wasn’t easy to find a woman alone.
They were either with husbands or boyfriends, or in groups. He
strolled down the sidewalk, hands shoved in the pockets of his
jeans. There was no hurry. He had three hours until his first
appointment.
The sounds of an argument drew him to a
restaurant parking lot. Taking cover in the shadows, he saw a man
and a woman facing each other. He was a little drunk. She was
angry, her arms crossed over her breasts.
“Pay up!” she demanded. “Fifty bucks,
right now!”
“I can’t.” He swayed unsteadily.
“Sorry.”
“What do you mean, you
can’t?”
He smiled ruefully. “I mean I don’t
have it.”
Her expression turned ugly. “I suggest
you get it while you still can.”
“You threatening me?” he
exclaimed.
She pulled a gun from the handbag
dangling from her wrist. “What do you think?”
Zack shook his head. He really didn’t
want to get involved in this little skirmish, but he couldn’t stand
by and watch one of his dealers get plugged by a
hooker.
Hands still in his pockets, Zack
strolled toward them.
The woman swung the gun in Zack’s
direction. “Get out of here!”
“Hold on there,” Zack said, holding up
both hands in a gesture of surrender. “That idiot’s a friend of
mine.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of cash.
“Turn Henry loose. I’ll pay his bill.”
She stared at Zack, her expression
uncertain.
Henry grinned at him. “Hey,
boss.”
“Hey, yourself. I think you’d better go
home while you can still walk.”
“Sure, boss, whatever you say,” Henry
muttered, and staggered toward the street.
The woman’s finger curled around the
trigger when Zack took a step toward her. “How do I know I can
trust you?”
Zack extended his hand and waved the
cash at her. “Come and get it.”
She hesitated, then took a wary step
toward him, let out a shriek when, with preternatural speed, he
closed the distance between them and plucked the gun from her
grasp.
“Two mistakes in one night,” she
muttered. And then tried to knee him in the groin.
Zack blocked it easily, pinned her arms
to her sides, then stuffed the bills into her cleavage. “For
services rendered.”
“Who are you?” she asked.
“No one you’ll remember,” he said, and
lowered his head to her neck.
It was five to ten when Zack returned
to Harrah’s. His insurance man was waiting for him in the
lobby.
“Shankman,” Zack said, shaking the
man’s hand. “I appreciate your meeting me so late.”
“Not a problem, Mr.
Ravenscroft.”
“Let’s go into the lounge,” Zack
suggested. “We’ll be more comfortable there.”
Zack found a table for two near the
back. He ordered a glass of red wine for himself, a scotch and
water for Shankman.
It took less than an hour to fill out
the requisite forms. Shankman assured him that the paperwork would
be expedited and the check mailed as soon as possible.
The two men shook hands and Shankman
left the lounge.
Leaning back in his chair, Zack sipped
his wine and thought about his upcoming wedding. He had never
expected to marry. It wasn’t common among his kind, another major
difference between vampires who were made and those who were born.
His kind tended to be solitary, concerned for their own survival
and little else. They tended to be jealous of their territory and
rarely made friends with other vampires. By comparison, those of
Kaitlyn’s ilk were far more social.
Zack’s meeting with his architect, Mike
Waters, went quickly and smoothly.
“Just rebuild it the way it was,” Zack
said.
“No changes?” Waters asked. “I was
thinking we should add a covered entry and extend the parking
garage. Tahoe’s grown quite a bit since you built the club, you
know. Are you sure you don’t want to add a couple of floors and
include some rooms?”
“I’m not interested in running a
hotel,” Zack said. “But I like the covered entry idea and the
additional parking. How soon can you get started?”
“First of the month?”
“Let’s do it.”
“I’ll draw up a contract tomorrow. Same
terms as before?”
Zack nodded.
Waters shook his hand. “Nice doing
business with you, Mr. Ravenscroft. I’ll be in touch.”
Alone again, Zack ordered another glass
of wine. Closing his eyes, he brought Kaitlyn’s image to mind.
Tomorrow night he would find a church where they could be married.
Once he made her his, he vowed they would never be parted
again.
Flipping open his cell phone, he
punched in her number, felt a sense of peace steal over him when he
heard her voice on the other end of the line.
Three days without Zack and Kaitlyn
felt like she was going stir-crazy. Her father had forbidden her
and her mother to leave the castle, even when the sun was up, and
although Kaitlyn slept a good part of the day—something she had
being doing more and more of since dating Zack—it still left her
with a lot of time on her hands and not much to do. After all, you
could only watch so many movies, read so many books, play so many
games of solitaire, before you felt like climbing the walls. And
that’s just how she felt.
Her parents did their best to keep her
entertained, and she loved them for it, but she missed Zack, missed
him with a hollow ache that nothing else could fill. She felt as if
a vital part of her had been torn away, leaving her empty and
incomplete. Was he feeling the same? Could he possibly miss her as
much as she missed him?
“Oh, Zack,” she murmured. She needed to
see him, to hear his voice, to touch him. And be touched in return.
She closed her eyes, recalling the taste of his kisses, the way her
whole body came alive at the touch of his hand. She missed the
sound of his voice, his smile, his laughter.
She wandered through the castle, her
fingertips sliding over the back of the sofa. Zack had kissed her
there. And here, in front of the hearth. And in the kitchen. And in
her bedroom. And in his bed. She sighed at the memory. Making love
to Zack was . . . She shook her head. There were simply no words to
describe the wonder of it, the joy it brought her, the sense of
belonging. In a flash of insight, she suddenly understood the
shared looks between her parents, the frequent half smile on her
mother’s lips.
She glanced at her watch. It was almost
four-thirty P.M. in
California. Was Zack still asleep? Was it too early to call? God
bless cell phones and the man who had invented them, she thought as
she punched in Zack’s number.
Her heart skipped a beat when she heard
his voice, thick with sleep.
“Hey, Katy darlin’.”
“Zack, I miss you so
much!”
“Me, too, you. Everything okay
there?”
“Yes. I just needed to hear your
voice.”
“You sound good, too. Listen, my
business is taken care of. I found a church. I bought a tux. Tell
your dad to come tomorrow night. I’ve got a suite at Harrah’s. I’ll
meet you there at sundown.”
“Tomorrow! You mean it? I can’t
wait!”
“Me, either.”
She sighed, remembering how he had
called last night and vowed that once they were married, they would
never be parted again. “I love you.”
“I love you more. Listen, Katy . .
.”
“I know. I called you too early. I’m
sorry. Go back to sleep.”
He murmured something
unintelligible.
“Call me when you wake
up.”
“Will do.”
She was smiling when she broke the
connection. He loved her. She would see him tomorrow
night.
Life was good.