Free Kissed by Smoke by Shéa MacLeod Page B

told.”
    There was a look in his eyes and I knew
without a shadow of a doubt there was still something in Mikey
worth saving. “You called the cops, didn’t you?”
    “If they knew they’d kill me. Please don’t
tell.”
    “I won’t. Promise.”
    A look of relief spread across his face.
“I’m really sorry, I just. I needed.” He hung his head in
shame.
    He was a junky. He needed a fix. Gods, this
world was fucked up. “Mikey, tell me about the man. The one that
hired you.”
    He frowned. “He was kind of scary. Tall,
thin, really pale. Had this spooky voice.”
    “He give you a name?”
    “No, but I was kind of out of it. Maybe he
told the others.”
    “You got their names? An address,
maybe?”
    He did and he gave them to me eagerly.
Atoning for his sins. But I knew he’d never get straight without
help. A lot of help.
    “Mikey, you’ve been really helpful,” I said.
“But you owe me for what you did to my brother.”
    His shoulders slumped even more than they
already were. “I know.” His voice was barely above a whisper.
    “So here is what you’re going to do. You are
going to take this card.” I handed him a simple white business
card. “You are going to call the number on this card and you will
tell the lady who answers that Morgan Bailey sent you to her. You
got it?”
    He turned the card over and over in his
hands. “Yes, Miss.”
    “You will tell her the truth. About your
drug habit, what you do to support it. The truth, you
understand?”
    The look of shame on his face was so
profound it broke my heart. “She won’t judge you, Mikey. I promise
you that.”
    He finally nodded. “Okay, I’ll call.”
    “Good. And you will do everything she tells
you. Everything. You got me? Because if I find out you haven’t, I
will hunt your ass down.”
    A look of absolute panic crossed his face.
“I’ll do it, I promise.”
    I smiled for the first time. Maybe there was
hope for the kid yet. “Good. And Mikey?”
    “Yeah?” He gazed up out of big tear-stained
eyes like I was some kind of freaking saviour.
    “Take a shower.”
    ***
    Beau and Benedict Radnor lived in a rundown
mobile home in the local trailer park. The pink siding, plastic
grass, and piles of empty beer bottles screamed white trash. No
surprises there.
    “I don’t think we should knock,” I whispered
to Inigo.
    “No kidding. They’re probably armed to the
teeth.”
    He didn’t look at all nervous, which was
good, because I was nervous enough for both of us. I know, I know.
How stupid is that, a bad-ass Vampire Hunter scared of a couple of
rednecks. What can I say? I’m not used to going up against
creatures I can’t kill.
    Not that I couldn’t kill the hillbilly
brothers, I totally could. But that would get me thrown in prison
for a very long time. And I don’t look good in orange.
    “Okay.” I sucked in a deep breath.
“Ready?”
    Inigo gave me a nod, then with one little
push he sent the door flying right off its hinges. It crashed into
the opposite wall of the single-wide trailer, then bounced back,
hitting the floor with a bang.
    “Oh, way to be subtle, babe.”
    He flashed me a smile before leaping over
the fallen door in a graceful bound. Show-off. I climbed over it
somewhat less gracefully.
    We needn’t have worried about the noise. The
Radnor boys were sprawled out on the floor of the bedroom, dead to
the world and reeking of booze. They hadn’t even made it to the
twin beds before passing out. Gods, I hated drunks.
    Inigo knelt down next to one of them and
yanked the guy’s head up by the hair. Nothing but a snort and some
drool.
    An evil smirk crossed my face. “I have an
idea.” I tromped out of the room, rustled around the kitchen a bit,
and came back with a garbage can filled with water. Really cold
water. Which I proceeded to dump straight in the faces of the
Radnor brothers.
    They came sputtering to life.
    “Hello, boys.” I sat down on the nearest
bed, making a mental note to call my doctor