I double parked outside the front doors of the Hilton and rushed inside. I was 2 minutes late. How long would she have waited?
“I’m here. What am I looking for?”
“She didn’t describe herself. Said she would be waiting by the elevators for you. You had better hurry. I doubt she hung around.”
“I’ll call you back,” I ended the call.
I headed for the elevator bank. There were a few people waiting there, but none of them were women. Dammit. I l scanned the room quickly, looking for any sign of her. I caught movement near the back hall, by the restaurant, the bobbing of a large, floppy hat. I recognized that hat. I turned to follow, slipping into the hallway after her. I was directly behind her now, but I could only see her clothes. I needed a better look at her, to be sure. A hat and layers of clothing were not enough for me to tell if she was the ubarae I was looking for, not for sure. I needed to see her better.
“Excuse me, miss?” I called out. “I think you dropped this.”
She turned back, and now, I was sure. I held out the ten-dollar bill I had retrieved from my wallet.
“Back by the elevators, just now. I think it fell out of your pocket.”
The succubus hesitated, cautious but she wasn’t specifically suspicious of me, yet. She had no reason to be, I was just a helpful stranger. I walked closer. Not too fast, keep it casual, don’t spook her.
“Oh, thank you,” she smiled widely, her perfect white teeth gleamed. “I didn’t even notice that I dropped it.”
Carla was pouring on the charm, I could feel it, an itch at the back of my skull. I resisted the urge to scratch it. No wonder everyone she encountered was so smitten with her. She would expect a response from me, so I slowed my pace and stopped to stare at her, letting my eyes go unfocused, blinking slowly. I’d seen that response enough to mimic it convincingly. The succubus approached me, still smiling brightly. I offered her the bill. She reached for it, and as she took it from my hand, I grabbed her wrist with my other hand and revealed my tattoo.
“Hello, ‘Carla’. I’m going to have to ask you to come with me.”
The change in her face was dramatic. The smile vanished, replaced by an ugly snarl, she tried to pull away, but I held her fast. I had her now. And then the world exploded into starbursts. I didn’t black out, but I stumbled, and lost my grip. The bus boy who had clocked me with the serving tray wound up for another blow. I hadn’t noticed him come up behind us. I rolled out of the way, took a breath, cleared my head.
“What are you doing? Stop her!” Carla shouted at him.
The bus boy nodded and lunged at me again, but he was no fighter. His moves were clumsy, predictable. I dodged to the side, I thumbed on my Taser and jabbed it into his ribs, he dropped. I turned back to the succubus.
“You won’t get that lucky again,” I warned.
“I won’t need to,” the succubus smiled as she flicked a lighter, igniting her cigarette. She took a long drag.
I noticed the smell first, a heavy, pungent petroleum stench; then I saw the bottle at her feet. Lighter fluid. From how intense the smell was, she had dumped the entire bottle into the carpet while I was distracted. The fire bug had come prepared to do more than burn a little skin this time. She had been planning to immolate her next victim. She might still manage it. I reached for my gun, but the lighter was already falling from her hand. I covered my face with my arm and turned away as flames erupted from the carpet. I looked back up to see her running for the back door. The flames weren’t that bad, yet, I could go after her. But if I did, the unconscious bus boy would likely burn. Shit. I grabbed the boy under the armpits and dragged him towards the kitchen. The room froze as I pushed through the door. I passed the unconscious employee to the man nearest me.
“There is a fire in the hall. Take him outside and call 911. I’m going to go and get…”
I left the thought unfinished as I sprinted from the room. They were all too stunned to ask questions at the moment, but that would change if I stuck around. Besides, if I had any hope of catching Carla, I had no time to waste. I visualized the layout of the hotel. I had studied it when I chose this place for my stakeout. Carla was likely heading for her car. There was a parking garage, but it was accessed by the elevators. The way she had gone, she would be heading for the back alley. She had likely parked there. That was good, the alley came out at the front of the building. If I could get to my car, which I had left on the street out front, I could intercept her. I pulled the door open and started the engine the instant before a bright yellow Ferrari peeled out of the alley. I caught a glimpse of the succubus behind the wheel, before she forced her way into traffic and vanished. I pulled out, as soon as a gap opened, but I had already lost her. Cursing, I called Tom.
“Ray, what’s going on?”
Stolen novel; please report.
“I found her. And I lost her. I need someone who can pull up traffic cameras.”
“What? What happened?”
“Hurry,” I continued in the last direction I had seen her go while I waited.
A few moments passed, I heard a muffled conversation on the other end of the line, finally, Tom returned.
“Ok, what are we looking for, Ray?”
“Yellow Ferrari. It left the Hilton going north about 5 minutes ago. Find it and get me back to it.”
“We’re on it.”
I continued to drive, moving outward from the Hilton, looking for the car. I knew that Tom and the technician were checking the feeds, starting at the Hilton, following the car to find its present location. I bet the succubus regretted choosing such a flashy car at this moment. It seemed like an eternity before Tom’s voice returned,
“Where are you now?”
I checked a street sign,
“Bay Street, almost at Dundas.”
“Ok, turn left on Dundas. You need to get over to Spadina. She circled around and is heading south now. Probably trying to get to the Gardiner and the DVP, get out of downtown, somewhere she can really open up that machine of hers.”
“Ok, keep track of her.”
I got back on University and headed for the Gardiner. If she made it to open roads, I would lose her. She was driving a Ferrari 458 Spider. I was driving a second-hand Mazda. It wouldn’t even be a contest. I needed to stop her before it came to that. I raced down the city street, dodging traffic. Reaching the Gardiner, I asked for an update.
“Where is she, Tom?”
“A few car lengths ahead of you, left hand lane. She is really hauling ass. It is only the traffic that is keeping her here. Tell me you have a plan.”
“Would it make you feel better if I did?”
“Very much so, yes.”
“Then I have a plan.”
“Ray…”
“Kind of busy now, Tom.”
I shifted gears and moved through traffic, closing on the yellow car. I had her in sight now, I just needed an opportunity to act. I followed her onto Lake Shore Blvd and when we reached the park, she began turning onto side streets in rapid succession. Clearly, she had realized that I was following her, and she was trying to shake me. If I let this go on much longer, she was going to succeed. So, when she turned onto a winding, deserted, tree lined street, I decided it was time to do something. It probably wasn’t the smartest plan I had ever come up with. Certainly not the most elegant. But it was the only one I had right now. So, I stepped on the gas, and when the succubus slowed to take a curve in the road, I didn’t. Instead, I accelerated right into the side of her beautiful car. Metal screamed and glass exploded as the force of the impact caused both cars to careen off the road. The next moment or so was a bit of a blur, it was possible that I blacked out for a minute, because the next thing I remembered was the airbag in my face. I shoved it out of the way and wriggled my limbs. Nothing seemed to be broken. I couldn’t have been out long, because there were still broken pebbles of glass falling from the windshield. I peered out of the gap. We had come to a stop with my car pinning hers against a tree. One of the fuel tanks must have been punctured in the crash, because the air smelled strongly of gasoline. There was something else, a sound that I couldn’t really make out over the ringing in my ears. As it began to clear, I recognized the noise as a voice. A rather insistent voice.
“…dammit, Ray, answer me! What the hell just happened?”
Right, Tom. I probably should have hung up the phone before I did that. Oops.
“I’m here, relax,” I groaned, shifting in my seat. I had probably pulled every muscle in my body.
“Relax? Relax?” Tom sounded a titch upset. “What did you do? It sounded like your car exploded.”
I surveyed the busted windshield, broken windows and twisted metal that I was going to have to somehow explain to an insurance adjuster and decided that he wasn’t far from the truth.
“I may have nudged her car off the road, a little. It isn’t a big deal.”
“You crashed into her car?”
“Just a little.”
“Are you just a little fucking out of your mind? Don’t answer that. I am sending the medics. Don’t move, you could be injured.”
I laughed out loud at that, and immediately regretted it, as it turned into racking coughs and rib pain,
“I am definitely injured. But I don’t think it is that serious.”
“How about we let the medics decide that, eh?”
“Make sure you send a containment crew, too.”
“Is the target alive?”
I paused to check. Cars take a hit pretty well from the front. A large crumple zone, air bags, seat belts. Good stuff. A hit from the side, on the other hand, was less optimal. The succubus looked like she had hit her head on the driver’s side window. There was a large bruise forming on the left side of her face and blood trickling down from her scalp. She wasn’t moving, but I was betting she was unconscious, not dead. Her injuries didn’t look that bad from here. Though head wounds could be tricky.
“I think so. I’ll have to go check.”
“No, don’t move,” Tom insisted. “The medics will be there in a few minutes and if they don’t find you in that car seat, I will make sure they hold you overnight in the med center for observation. See if I don’t.”
“Fine, I’m staying put.”
“Good. Because if you don’t get back here in one piece, I won’t be able to kill you myself.”
“It’s sweet that you care,” I leaned my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes. Everything hurt, kind of like I had been hit by a car, appropriately enough. It would be nice to just rest, for a few minutes. And that was when I heard the whoosh of the gasoline igniting. I could not catch a break today. I muted my earpiece and swore colorfully. A spark from the electrical system, or heat from one of the engines must have caught the leaking gasoline. Flames licked the outside of my car. I couldn’t stay here, or I would cook. I wrenched the door open and stumbled out. I glanced back at the other car. The succubus hadn’t moved. If I left her there, she would burn alive. Perhaps a fitting end for her, but I couldn’t just sit here and let her die. I’d killed before, but that didn’t mean I liked it. If I could prevent it, I would. I limped across the distance. The flames were gaining in intensity, I needed to hurry. I tried the door handle, but the crash had warped the frame and I couldn’t get it open. The window was broken, however, so knocked out the remaining pebbles of glass with my elbow and then reached in, unbuckled her seat belt and hauled her out onto the grass. It wasn’t a pleasant experience, my back screamed in protest, but I got her out. I dragged her up onto the road and over to the other shoulder. I checked her pulse, it was strong and steady, but she hadn’t stirred. I bound her feet and hands with plastic ties, just to be safe. Then I leaned back against a tree, and watched the flames bubble the paint on my black Mazda. Maybe I could just tell the Geico guy that it had been stolen.