“ I thought things were okay with Tucker Wayne?” Alicia said as they made their way through the casino. She didn’t seem nearly as frightened as Amy, but then Tucker hadn’t sent someone to the party to kill her.
They’d bolted for the door as soon as she’d understood Nana’s warning and Amy wanted to run like hell, get far away, but Alicia held fast to her hand, keeping their pace quick, but not looking as if they were in a panic, which was pretty smart, because the way they were dressed was drawing enough attention. The last thing they needed was for some of these gamblers to think they were in some kind of trouble.
“ So did I.” Amy was confused. They’d parked in a parking garage on Sierra Street, and entered the casino from there. Then up an escalator, where they passed the casino shops that were over the street, then down an escalator into the dome, then down another escalator into the foyer, then the ballroom.
They went up the first escalator, were in the dome now, but she was all turned around. Where was the other escalator?
“ This way.” Alicia pulled her toward the doors to the street and then they were outside in the night. “Which way is the car?”
“ I don’t know.” Amy was in full blown panic mode now.
“ Give me that! What are you trying to do, cause a panic?” The DJ wrestled the mic from Izzy, who looked out over the crowd. Did Amy get out? Where was Lila?
She couldn’t make them out, couldn’t tell who was who, so when she saw the DJ pick up the mic and start to say something, she’d acted without thinking. She’d charged the stage, grabbed the mic and shouted her warning.
“ Sorry,” she told the DJ as a pair of security guards approached the stage.
“ It’s okay folks.” The DJ’s voice boomed through the ballroom. “It’s all part of the show.” He put on Bobby Boris Picket’s “The Monster Mash,” but he added a driving sort of disco beat to the background and people started drifting back to the dance floor.
“ Sorry,” Izzy said again as the DJ put an arm around her bony shoulders.
“ What was that all about?” He kept a smile trained on the crowd as he talked, not meeting her eyes.
“ It was true,” she said into his ear. “My granddaughter is here and someone is trying kill her. I hope she was one of the ones who left.”
“ Really?” He turned away from the crowd, met her eyes now. He was big, black and looked like he was a product of the gangs.
“ Yeah.”
“ Then I hope so too.” He waved the security guards away.
“ Thanks.”
“ You should go home before they change their mind.”
“ Right.”
“ You gonna be okay?”
“ I’ll be fine. Again, sorry.”
“ Go.”
Izzy left the stage with the feeling that a thousand eyes were on her, but as she took in the crowd, she saw very few people looking her way. Most of these costumed ghoulies had been drinking and apparently they’d believed the DJ when he’d said she’d been part of the entertainment. How that could pass muster, she hadn’t a clue. But it seemed with enough alcohol, anything was believable.
Lila Booth stood at the back of the ballroom, watching what was going on between the DJ and the hag. She’d been surprised when the DJ waved away the security guards.
Surprised, but not disappointed.
The lesbian girls were long gone, but not this one. This one had said her name out loud. Called her out as a killer in front of hundreds and even though most were too drunk or too into themselves tonight to remember, some would.
So, in reality, she should let the woman go. Nobody would ever come calling at her door. It would all go away if she walked away. But she couldn’t. Someone had betrayed her and there was only one person who knew what she was up to tonight.
Tucker.
And then it hit her who that woman was. It was Isadora Eisenhower. The doctor who had done Tucker’s transplant. She must be related to Amy. Too old to be her mother. Her grandmother maybe.
Lila knew Tucker better than Tucker knew himself. He wouldn’t have any feelings for the old woman, but he had a perverted sense of honor. He didn’t like owing anybody and he paid his debts. He would have considered himself in the doctor’s debt. That’s why he warned her. But now the debt was paid. He’d not give another thought to Dr. Eisenhower.
Eisenhower wended her way through the crowd and, surprisingly, they seemed to have forgotten all about her as she made her way to the exit. Lila hadn’t forgotten.
Izzy hadn’t seen Amy, hadn’t seen Lila either. She didn’t know whether or not they were even there, but she’d had no choice. Amy’s mother had been addicted to meth when she’d been born, in and out of rehab. Jail too. So Izzy, who was still grieving over the loss of her husband, had raised the girl. It had been just the two of them.
But that wasn’t the only thing that bonded them. With the exception of Amy’s blue eyes, Amy was Izzy’s carbon copy. Looking at sixty year old photos of herself, she’d swear she was seeing Amy today. They were twins, separated by half a century and the color of their eyes.
No parent and child had ever shared a stronger bond, one that Izzy had thought unbreakable. And it had been, until Tucker. Somehow the man had swept the girl off her feet. She’d turned her back on everything, Izzy too. And she was using drugs. Marijuana, Izzy knew for sure. Meth, she hoped not. They hadn’t spoken in over a month and it was breaking Izzy’s heart.
Her doctors repeatedly told her it was important to carry around a positive attitude, but she couldn’t, she just couldn’t.
“ That way.” Alicia pointed to a parking garage on the opposite side of the street.
“ That’s not where we parked,” Amy said.
“ Yeah, I think it is. We went in on the other side. And we went into the casino over there, too. Look!” she pointed up. “We crossed over up there, where those shops were, then we took the escalator down. Come on.” Alicia started out at a brisk walk, toward the garage. “Let’s get the car and get out of here.”
“ I can’t go back to my apartment.” Amy followed her friend into the garage. “I can’t stand the thought of being alone.”
“ Third level.”
“ Wait a second.” Inside the garage, Amy felt safer.
“ What?”
“ That was my grandmother up there shouting about Lila Booth wanting to kill me.” She took in a breath, tried to reason it out, couldn’t. “How could she have known that? We’re hardly speaking.”
“ I thought you were so close, the look alike thing and all.”
“ We were, but she didn’t like me going out with Tucker.”
“ And guess who was right about that?” Alicia said.
“ Don’t rub it in.”
“ Think she was telling the truth up there?”
“ Nana doesn’t know how to lie.”
“ Then you’re right, you can’t go home,” Alicia said. “And after what happened back there, you probably shouldn’t go to your grandmother’s. Maybe you should stay with me and hide out till we can figure this out.”
“ We?”
“ Yeah, we. We’re friends and friends help each other.”
“ Okay,” Amy said.
“ I think I better drive,” Alicia said.
“ I can.” Amy loved her little yellow VW. Loved it so much that she never let anybody else drive it, but all of a sudden the effects of all the wine she’d had were front and center. For a few minutes, she’d been scared sober, but she wasn’t, not really. “You’re right. You drive.” She fished her keys from her purse, handed them over.
“ We’re safe now,” Alicia said after she’d unlocked the doors and they were in the car.
“ I don’t know, I’m more nervous now than I was the other day with you in Tucker’s bed.”
“ I have just the cure.” Alicia pulled a joint out of her purse.
“ No, not now.”
“ Come on, it’ll loosen you up.” Alicia flicked her Bic.
Izzy thanked the stars they were having a warm October, because since she’d left home without her handbag, she had no money and she didn’t want to stiff the valet. For a normal person home was about a half hour away on foot, for her, twice that. She started out. She’d walk a block over to Sierra, take that up to College, turn right and in a few blocks, she’d be home.
She started across the street when a Harley riding vampire screeched around the corner, driving like Hell was on his tail and gaining fast. Izzy jumped back to avoid being run over, tripped and, on the way down, threw her hands out in front of herself to break her fall, skinning them on the pavement.
Down the street the Harley rumbled on. The driver either hadn’t seen Izzy or hadn’t cared. She didn’t know which was worse. She struggled to her feet, palms bloody, feeling like they were on fire. The walk home was going to be agony, but she’d become used to hurting. Thankfully, tonight she’d been freed from the cancer’s pain. It came and it went. She wanted to be home before it came again.
At Sierra she saw a couple more vampires. They were out in force tonight. This couple was crossing Sierra, heading toward her. He was tall, with longish black hair. It almost looked real, but Izzy had become quite the authority on spotting wigs.
The girl was wearing a wig too, but her face wasn’t made up as his was and she wasn’t wearing the fangs. Even in this light Izzy could see the sort of natural beauty that surrounds pregnant women. She looked happy. Probably was.
The sound of screeching tires pierced the night and for an instant Izzy thought the Hog riding vampire was back, but then an older yellow Volkswagon came careening out of the Silver Legacy’s garage.
“ Look out!” Izzy screamed, but she wasn’t in time, the car plowed into the couple, knocking them aside, then it sped around the corner and was out of sight. It happened too fast for her to get the license number.
“ Marlan are you alright?” Izzy heard the man say.
“ Kissan, the baby!” the woman said. She was in distress.
The man called Kissan got up, helped the woman to her feet.
“ We have to get out of the street.” He guided her to the sidewalk and to Izzy.
“ You shouldn’t move,” Izzy said.
“ It’s done,” the man said.
“ Kissan, she’s coming!”
“ You’re sure?” he said.
“ She’s sure,” Izzy said. “I’m going to need your help. Come on, take off your coat, we’re going to need it.”
“ You’ve done this before?”
“ No, never, but I’ve seen it done. I can do it.” She took the coat, spread it on the sidewalk, then to the woman. “It’s going to be okay, Marlan. Lay down, I’ll help you.”
“ You know her name?”
“ I heard you, just now.” She helped Marlan down onto the coat, leaving bloody patches on the woman’s sleeves where she’d gripped her.
“ You’re hurt,” Kissan said.
“ It’s minor.” She looked up at Kissan, he had a serious gash on his left cheek and blood was pouring from under his wig. “Take the wig off.”
He did. Underneath it he had a blue scarf wrapped around his head, almost like a turban. He had a gash on his forehead, too, right above his left eyebrow.
“ You’re going to need stitches, but they can wait, your wife comes first.” Izzy started to examine the woman.
“ You can do this?” Kissan said.
“ I’m a doctor.”
“ I thought you said you’d never done this before.” He had a slight accent, but she couldn’t place it.
“ I’m not that kind of doctor.”
“ What kind then?”
“ I was a heart surgeon. I’m retired.”
“ Because of the cancer?”
“ How did you-”
“ Kissan,” Marlan shouted. “She’s coming now.”
“ It can’t be,” Kissan said, “her water hasn’t broken,”
“ Sometimes the baby’s head plugs the cervix. Sometimes it doesn’t break till active labor.”
“ But she’s not due for two weeks.”
“ Kissan, quiet,” Marlan said. “She’s coming now!” She had the same strange accent as her husband. Their names too suggested that they were foreigners. She wondered where they were from.
“ You ran those people down.” Amy screamed when they’d hit the people, then sort of went into shock, but it didn’t last long.
“ Yeah, pretty scary.”
“ We should go back.” They were several blocks away now.
“ There was someone on the sidewalk,” Alicia said. “I’m sure they’ve already called 911.”
“ But we hit them.” They were on the freeway now.
“ Yeah, but we can’t go back. We’re trying to get away from someone who wants to kill you, remember?”
“ But-”
“ No buts. There was someone there. Besides, we weren’t going fast enough to hurt anyone.”
“ Yes we were.”
“ No we weren’t,” Alicia said. “I’m sure they’re okay. Besides, even if we go back, there’s nothing we can do, except get ourselves arrested for being stoned, not to mention the hit and run or the fact that someone’s trying to permanently put out your lights.”
“ I guess you’re right,” Amy said. Then she tried to put it out of her mind, but it didn’t want to go.
“ Is this your first baby?” Izzy said.
“ Yes.” Marlan was breathing hard, almost out of control. “First one.”
“ You’re going to have to slow your breathing down. Can you do that?”
“ Yes, yes, okay.” She took in a breath, held it, let it out.
“ No, not like that, breathe evenly, don’t hold it in.”
“ Alright, I can do that.” She did.
“ How far apart are your contractions?”
“ There is no apart.” Marlan was speaking through gritted teeth. “It’s just one long pain.”
“ Is she going to have the baby now?” A new voice. Izzy turned toward it. A small crowd had gathered, some were in costume, some were not.
“ I need some of you to take off your jackets, shirts too. I need to make a pillow to slip under her hips.”
“ I can help.” A man pulled off his sweatshirt. “Come on, people,” he said. “Let’s fill it up.”
Other’s took off, pulled off or shucked out of their jackets, sweaters and sweatshirts. The man gathered enough clothing to make two pillows. Izzy slid one under Marlan’s hips and the other under her head.
“ Can someone call 911?”
“ Already did,” the pillow man said.
Izzy hoped they’d get here in time.
“ I feel like I have to go to the bathroom,” Marlan said.
“ Shit or pee,” Izzy said.
“ The first one,” Marlan said. “I really have to shit.”
“ I thought we might get lucky and the paramedics would get here in time. But it’s not happening. What you’re feeling is the baby moving through the birth canal. She’s creating pressure on your rectum. She’s on the way, Marlan and there’s no stopping her now.”
“ Really?”
“ I’m going to have to undress you.”
“ It’s okay, I’m not shy.”
She was wearing a black dress, specially made for the occasion, Izzy supposed. She was going to have to cut it away.
“ Does anybody have knife?”
“ Yeah.” A vampire in a white tee shirt pulled a switchblade from a hip pocket, thumbed its trigger, flicking it open. He’d donated his jacket and black dress shirt and he was still giving.
“ So many vampires.” She took the knife.
“ Everybody loves a vampire.” He looked rough, not somebody you’d want to meet on a dark night if you had a fat wallet in your pocket.
“ Okay, Marlan, I hope you’re not too attached to this dress.”
“ Don’t worry. Hurry!”
Izzy cut away the dress at the waist, exposing Marlan to the crowd. She exposed a gaping flesh wound on her left thigh as well, probably where the car had hit her.
“ I need a pressure bandage,” Izzy said.
“ My shirt.” The hard looking vampire, who’d given up his blade, pulled off his white tee.
“ The vampire who keeps on giving,” Izzy said.
“ Yeah, Doc. Save the kid.”
“ I will.” She balled up the tee shirt and without thinking applied it to the wound and too late realized she done a blood to blood mistake.
“ It’s okay,” Marlan said, as if reading her mind. “I don’t have anything that can hurt you and nothing you’re carrying can hurt me or the baby.”
“ I need to sterilize my hands, does anybody have anything that can help?”
“ I have a flask of Johnny Walker Black in my pocket,” the now shirtless vampire said. “Will that do?”
“ Unbelievable.” Izzy held out her hands. “Can you pour it over them?”
“ Sure.” He reached into his other hip pocket, pulled out a sliver flask, poured the whiskey over her hands.
“ Stings,” she said.
“ Looks like it would,” he said.
“ Right.” She turned back to Marlan, still bleeding a little. She’d do her best not to mix any more blood, but she was afraid the damage had already been done.
The area around Marlan’s vagina started to bulge out.
“ Can you push for me?” Izzy said. “Not too hard right now.”
“ Yes.” Marlan pushed.
“ Are you feeling contractions now?”
“ Yes, only seconds apart.”
“ Push between the contractions, not at the start, okay?”
“ Okay.”
Another contraction. Marlan pushed and all of a sudden Izzy could see the baby’s head. She was crowning. Izzy hadn’t expected it to happen so fast. It was unusual for a first child. But then again there seemed to be a lot of unusual going on with this couple; this crowd, too.
“ Okay, Marlan, I need you to blow through your mouth at the peak of your contractions.”
“ You think I’m going to push too hard. I won’t.”
“ Alright.” This was one pretty savvy woman.
“ Okay then, take slow breaths and breathe deeply.”
Marlan obeyed as she gently pushed between the contractions.
“ It’s coming,” someone from the crowd said.
“ Really?” Marlan was smiling.
“ Really!” Izzy guided the head out, saw that the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck.
“ Oh my God!” a woman said.
“ It’s not a problem.” Izzy reached her index finger between the cord and the baby’s neck, gently loosened it and the baby’s head slipped through the loop Izzy had made as she started to make her way silently into the world.
Izzy held the baby’s head in her hands, supporting it, guiding the baby as she turned her head to the side.
“ It’s time, Marlan.” Izzy steeled herself. “One more push.”
“ I’m ready.”
And then the baby came, crying into the world.
Lila watched Eisenhower deliver the baby from the safety of the parking garage as she pulled on a pair of latex gloves. Then she pulled the pistol from her backpack. She never used the same kind of weapon twice. And she never carried it far from the scene of the crime, preferring to drop them in the nearest trash can.
However, this was Reno and there were security cameras everywhere. She was lucky to find a spot not covered to watch Eisenhower birth the baby from, but she didn’t want to trust carrying the weapon to a trash can and be recorded dropping it in. She’d have to leave it here.
It almost seemed a waste to lose such a good weapon on such an old woman, but Lila’s mind was made up. She sighted in on Eisenhower’s chest, aiming for the heart. She watched for a few seconds, thinking this was a fitting ending for a heart surgeon. Then she pulled the trigger.