Page 87 of Taste of Blood

I shrug. “Something like that.”

“I’ve got you well covered for now.”

“What about later?”

“You might want to consider changing your name in the next five or so years. At least become a junior.”

“Should I move?”

“New York is a big city. It’s easier to get lost here than in some Podunk town in the Midwest.”

“I wasn’t thinking about a Podunk town in the Midwest.” The last thing I want to do is go back to a small town. I had my fill of that growing up.

She grins. “Well, whatever you’re thinking, stop. No one is coming after you here.”

“Have you seen the looks I get from my competitors?”

“Ok,” she sighs, sitting back on her desk. “At the risk of stroking your enormous ego, you’re a Golden Boy. You’ve got this whole Whiz Kid vibe going on right now that intimidates the hell out of people, especially older men, which is why they look so terrified of you.”

“Whiz Kid vibe?”

“Yeah, you know, like the tech billionaires out west. Young, brilliant, and sharp, everything they touch turns to money. You can ride that for several years. As far as anyone who looks close at you, you were born and raised in Atlanta. Your family moved north when you were twelve. You topped off your education at Harvard Business School. Started your first company when you were sixteen. Made your first million at eighteen.”

I recall the basics of the identity Elaine created for me, though I guess I never really paid all that much attention to it. “Why Atlanta, and why Harvard?”

“Atlanta because how else would I explain that cute Georgia drawl of yours. And Harvard because, well, go big or go home.”

“Yeah, but isn’t Harvard kind of hard to fake?”

“It’s easier than you think, if you know what you’re doing. Plus, it gives my enormous ego a boost knowing I pulled it off. Now go home. Or go drag that hot boyfriend of yours into a dark corner and have the kind of wild monkey sex I wish I was having.”

Wild monkey sex? Sometimes Elaine really makes me feel old.

29: Cord

THE HEADACHE I had last night is back with a vengeance, but that’s what happens when you’re stuck in a closed cell with two screaming vamps and buckets of blood. Yeah, I’m getting paid for it, and I love torture as much as the next maladjusted sociopath, but some things go above and beyond my patience.

It’s obvious all my tried and true methods of coercion are no match for the loyalty these two fuckwits have for their boss. At the moment they’re both unconscious again, providing me with a few minutes of peace. I pull out my phone to check the time–just after 7:00 pm–which means Dante should be back by now and expecting results.

I’m about to tuck my phone away in my pocket when I notice the message light blinking. I click on my voice mail.

“Hey Cord, give me a call when you get this. Elaine has come up with some new information about the Python. You’re going to want to see this.”

I punch in Asher’s number and wait for him to answer.

“Cord?”

“So what’s this new information?” I ask.

“We may have his identity and a picture.”

“You say you may have?”

“We’re about ninety-nine percent sure. I’m on my way home right now. If you want to meet me there, I can show you the file.”

I glance back at my two victims. What I wouldn’t give just to be able to put them out of my misery, but I don’t know if what Asher has will trump what I can get here. “I’m kind of tied up right now. You say this is good?”

“Yeah. It’s good.”