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I flipped the sticky note around in my fingers. I had already inputted his number into my phone and shot him a text with mine so he’d have my non-burner phone number, but I was having a hard time throwing away the tiny yellow square of paper. What was wrong with me? A sentimental sap I was not.
The way his dark-blue eyes had searched mine that night he and Jemini had hired me to help them eliminate the malware on his computer was what I thought about as my eyes drifted closed each morning before I fell asleep. Then earlier, I got the call they needed more help, and I was, of course, happy to oblige. After all, I knew the problems they were having would be easy for me to get rid of. I wondered what Face would do if he knew I was the one responsible for the malware on the Nighthawks’ computer system to begin with? The vampires I worked for owned that site on the Dark Web and they paid me very well to keep that spyware on the site to track anyone who visited it. So long as those Cash App deposits kept coming, I’d continue to monitor the site and keep the spyware active. I didn’t have to tell Face that was where their viruses were coming from, but something about him made me do stupid things. He looked like he’d be a big, arrogant jerk, but he was the opposite. Polite and a little nerdy. Not really my type, but then again, I didn’t have a type. I knew any chance at dating or love had been taken from me decades ago, so I avoided even thinking about it. The way he was looking at me earlier and that weird moment between us had just been my imagination. Nobody that hot would be attracted to me. Nobody not hot would be, either for that matter.
Looking the way I did, I stayed mostly inside and really had nothing else going on in my life. After I was turned, I took night classes to learn computer science and then pored over hacking articles on the Dark Web until I learned how to do the most sinister things to cyber systems. Chat rooms were filled with people just like me, looking to get in where they could fit in, since it clearly was not in the real world. If I couldn’t be accepted amongst humans and fellow vampires, I would find my tribe online. After all, I could be anything I wanted to be on the internet. Right?
Unfortunately, my access to all things on the Dark Web had led me to a site where humans were kidnapping kids. I’d been horrified to learn there were real monsters in New Orleans doing terrible, sinister things, and I was tracking them closely. So close that I had got a drop on where two of them would be a couple of nights ago and had followed them. The text from one of my burner phones to the Nighthawks’ and the FBI’s snitch lines had been sent easily enough. The phone and its guts were then completely destroyed by fire before I threw it into the Mississippi.
My other burner rang with an unknown number, and I answered it. “Rocky.”
“I got a job you might be interested in. Meet me at Zombies in half an hour,” the male voice said.
“Who is this?” I asked.
I was met with silence as the call ended. Well, this better be worth my time. I had no idea who this stranger was. He hadn’t even given me a description of himself.
My apartment in the Quarter overlooked Chatares Street, so I closed and locked my door, made my way down the stairs, and headed out on foot to Zombies, only a four-block walk. Pulling the hood of my sweatshirt tighter over my head, I walked quickly with my head down to the popular nightclub. I went straight up to the bar and ordered a beer, waiting for this stranger to arrive.
I didn’t have to wait long. Not five minutes later a man walked up to me and asked if I was Rocky... my alias.
“Yes,” I replied eyeing the strange, small vampire curiously. He wore a black trench coat, and his bald head was covered by a black ball cap.
He licked his lips and looked around. “I got a job for you.”
I raised my brow, the bottle to my lips. “What kind of job?”
His gaze darted around the club again. “I need you to hack into something.”
“You need to learn how to be more conspicuous, man. Looking around the club like this makes you seem suspect. Act normal.”
His brown eyes went wide. “Okay.”
“What’s your name?” I asked the stranger, who was now inside my space.
“Joe,” he replied. “Hey, what happened to your face?”
I ignored his question as I caught the attention of Theo and summoned him over.
“What can I do for you, Rocky?” Theo asked.
“Fifteen minutes in your office?” I asked.
He nodded. “Of course.”
We followed him to the back office of the club, and I handed him a fifty-dollar bill before he closed the door behind him.
“Sit,” I told Joe as I booted up Theo’s computer. “What can I do for you?”
“I need you to hack into the DMV and get me an address,” he replied, still looking nervous.
“For what purpose?” I asked.
Joe cleared his throat. “Just need it is all.”
“Are you a stalker, Joe?” I asked, crossing my arms against my hoodie.
He gasped. “No. I swear. I just need to know her address for... personal reasons.”
“Who is this person?” I’d do just about anything for money, but I didn’t assist sexual deviants or murderers.
He hesitated.
I pointed at my wrist where there was no watch. “Tick-tock, Joey.”
Licking his lips, he finally replied, “I know you won’t believe me, but she’s my daughter. I was turned when she was just a baby and I had to leave her and her mom. I just wanna make sure she’s okay. Watch over her. Ya know? With the rising crime here in the city... I worry.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “So, you were turned when she was a baby and you stayed in the city? Nobody’s recognized you?”
“I, uh, stay in the shadows.”
Staring hard into his eyes, I analyzed him. He had no air of deceit and his gaze looked desperate and sad. Finally, I said, “Okay. It’s two hundred upfront, and another three once I get you the info you need.”
Joe relaxed and fished two bills from his pocket, then laid them on the desk. “No problem. And thank you.”
I snorted. “Don’t thank me yet.” I went to the DMV’s site and easily accessed their servers. “What’s her name and date of birth?”
Joe gave me the information I needed, and I found her driver’s license easily enough. I printed it out for him and handed it over. “The other three is due now.”
After he slapped the bills into the palm of my hand, I said, “Pleasure doing business with you.” I quickly wiped Theo’s computer history and we left the office.
We went our separate ways, me walking down the sidewalk back toward the safety of my apartment. All I wanted was to get back to the computer to see what Face was doing. I grinned to myself as I thought about his “club” nickname. It was easy enough to figure out how he’d acquired the nickname, but his real name had been on the gradation diploma from the University of North Texas hanging on his office wall, and I had tucked that little bit of info into my brain for proper stalking later. A simple reverse image search of his handsome mug I’d snagged from his driver’s license photo had shown me all I needed to know about the guy. Hundreds of pictures popped up of him in various ads, and my favorite—a huge billboard in Southern California depicting him in his underwear not dissimilar to the famous Marky-Mark Calvin Klein ad from the nineties. Except Parker Lee Knight was so much sexier and gorgeous than Mr. Wahlberg could ever be.
My daydreaming had made for a quick walk back to my place. I sucked down a blood bag from the fridge before going back to my dark corner and checking the Nighthawks’ computer system. Face accessing that site I managed had led me to the discovery of the vampire bikers who seemed to want to be the unethical cops of the underworld of this city. My obsession with them had been going on for months. Every time I witnessed or learned of a supernatural crime, I’d texted their lame anonymous tip line and they had always followed up with me watching from the shadows like some deranged stalker.
Maybe that was what I was. Because that would always be what I did. Hide in the shadows, stealing blood bags from the local blood bank because I was too hideous and frightening to feed from the abundance of blood whores in this city who got paid for their delicious human blood.
My phone rang with another unknown number. I answered, “Rocky.”
“Hello, ma’am. I am currently in need of your computer assistance,” drawled a male voice that sounded like he’d been alive, or at least existing, for a very long.
“Sure, what can I do for you?” I asked.
“I would like to acquire your services. I need you to gather some information on a subject I’ve been trying to find. I’ve hit a dead end and thought maybe you could help me find out more about this person through the use of modern technology and the internet?” he replied.
I smiled at his formal language. Definitely an old vampire. “Absolutely. When would you like to meet?”