Free Six Times Deadly: A Lawson Vampire Story Collection (The Lawson Vampire Series) by Jon F. Merz Page A

and handed it over.   The greeter eyed it.   "Nice."
    "Thanks."
    He hefted it.   "Kinda heavy."
    "Well, you're still a growing boy.   Give it time.   One day even you might be able to handle it."
    He eyed me.   "Don't push your luck, chun lo fan .   Huang might want to see you, but that don't mean he wants you to live that long."
    I glanced around the room.   "Where is he?"
    The greeter gestured for me to follow him through the other door.   "Come with me."
    We walked through into another corridor, this one different from all the rest.   It was thickly carpeted and there were posters on the walls.   I heard loud dance music booming out of speakers somewhere close by.   Toward the end of the hallway, the door in front of us opened and the music instantly got louder.
    I walked into a dance club.
    We passed through throngs of teens jamming and gyrating on a wooden parquet floor while strobes overhead flashed red, yellow, and blue lights.   Shadows grew and shrank as bodies pressed close to us.   The greeter seemed unfazed by any of this.   But I was surprised.   A concealed nightclub in the midst of an apartment complex was pretty compelling.
    A couple of girls gave me the once over.   I guessed they didn't get many white guys wandering through.   Shame.   I could have taught them the Electric Slide.
    We crossed the floor and a set of stairs led us up to a balcony that overlooked the dance floor.   Huang must have commandeered an entire two floors for himself and his crew and simply knocked through the ceiling to build this place.
    At the top of the stairs, another pair of thugs barred the way.   They parted only slightly.   Each of them could have played on the offensive line for an NFL team.
    Looking back and down at the way the place was laid out, getting out of here in a hurry was going to be a problem.   And I only had two extra mags for the USP.
    "Hey."
    I looked back and saw the greeter waving me on.   He approached a red velvet couch.   On the couch sat a fat dude who looked all of thirteen.   I almost smiled, but kept it in check.   They didn't make Chinese gangsters like they used to, apparently.   But the two girls on either side of him were pretty enough.   At least that had stayed constant.
    As I approached he frowned at me, trying his best to look tough despite the obvious barrage of acne.   "You Lawson?"
    "Yeah."
    The greeter handed him my USP.   Huang slid the magazine out of it, popped a round off the top and fingered it.   After a second, he glanced back at me.   "Fixer."
    "That's right."
    Huang spread his arms around his girls.   "So, what does the Council want with me?   We haven't done anything wrong.   Certainly not enough to warrant a visit from one of your kind."
    He spat that last bit out as if he expected me to be offended.   Maybe I was.   After all, he'd ruined what was otherwise a pretty crummy night.
    "What-not even a Merry Christmas to me?"   I grinned.   "Not exactly the sort of holiday spirit I expected."
    "Merry fucking Christmas," aid Huang.   "Now, answer the question.   Otherwise, the only gift Santa's bringing you this year is a very painful death."
    I spotted a chair nearby and sat down, keeping my eyes on him the whole time.   "You're getting ready to do business with a guy named Hess."
    Huang shrugged.   "Never heard of him."
    I smiled.   "Listen, Huang: it's Christmas.   And it's cold and snowy outside."   I spread my hands.   "Here's the thing: I was pretty damned comfortable back at my place.   I had a stiff drink.   I had some tunes on the stereo.   And then I get a phone call.   Interrupted the whole vibe I had going."
    "That's too bad."
    "Yeah, well, see, if I come all the way down here to visit some pimple-faced little fuck like you, then chances are good that I'm not in the mood to listen to your bullshit.   So, why don't you and I pretend that I know that your gang here is getting antsy with the Vietnamese controlling everything