Nadya’s Nights: Road to Vengeance
Night Two: Race for the Cure
Chapter Sixteen: The French Connection
by Indy McDaniel
Copyright © 2009 Indy McDaniel
Nadya was relieved when she came out of the pub to find both Ulbrecht and the car where she left them. She was less relieved when she got behind the wheel and examined the address Lonestar had given her. He’d said the woman was French but she hadn’t expected her to actually be in France. She released a long sigh.
The adjoining country wasn’t that far away, but it was far enough to eat up an hour or two of transit time. It wasn’t something she was looking forward to, but she wasn’t about to head back into the pub and ask around for someone closer. So she fired the car up and pulled back out onto the road.
If it wound up being one big run around, Nadya would be coming back to pummel Lonestar to death. Getting on the autobahn, she no longer had to worry about exceeding any speed limits and let the Maserati accelerate. She kept her foot firmly planted as she guided the speeding car around the gentle banks and curves of the road. Even with the incredible speed of the vehicle, it took an hour to get into France.
During the course of the hour, Nadya had been chain smoking to try and kill the hunger in her gut.
It worked.
Somewhat.
She had been checking the rearview mirror occasionally to see if they were being followed, but gave up shortly after she’d started. The few cars she spotted behind them weren’t there long enough to be any trouble. She was forced to slow back down to a reasonable speed once she got onto the local roads.
The address led her to a tall apartment building that looked pretty ritzy. She looked at the address again and noticed the woman lived in ‘Penthouse A’. Apparently, informing on vampires, werewolves and other baddies paid a lot better then the tips Lonestar dealt in.
She looked over at Ulbrecht. “This is the place.”
She got out of the car and headed for the entrance, Ulbrecht following along behind. She punched the buzzer for Penthouse A and waited for a response.
“Yes?” came the voice of a French woman, slightly distorted and muted from the small speaker it was broadcast from.
Nadya leaned forward and hit the button to respond. “I’m looking for Elise Lussier. Lonestar sent me.”
“Tell that pervert, for the last time, I’m not making any lesbian pornos for him,” Elise replied. The annoyance in her voice transmitted loud and clear over the small speaker.
Nadya raised an eyebrow, somewhat curious about how many girls Lonestar had sent to this woman’s apartment with crotchless panties and a video camera.
She hit the button again. “That’s not why I’m here. I’m looking for some information.”
There was a pause before Elise replied. “Alright. But if you come up here with a strap-on and a digital camera, you’re going to be in even more trouble than Lonestar.”
There was a buzz as the door to the apartment building unlocked and Nadya grabbed the handle, yanking it open and stepping inside. Ulbrecht was right behind her. They walked over to the lift and she tapped at the call button.
There was a ding as the lift doors opened. They stepped inside and she hit the button for Penthouse A. The doors closed and the lift began to ascend. The trip seemed to take longer than it actually did, due to the soft music being pumped through the speakers in the elevator.
Elevator music had to be the worst possible torture device around. That was Nadya’s opinion of the stuff, anyway.
Finally, the lift reached the top floor and the doors parted to reveal a small hallway leading to a pair of double doors. Nadya and Ulbrecht exited and headed down the hall to the doors.
She gave a knock and waited for the woman to answer. She was probably looking through the peephole to make sure Nadya wasn’t standing there in the nude or something equally ridiculous.
The door opened and a woman with dark olive skin and bright green eyes appeared. She looked to be in her early thirties. She was wearing a tight-fitting red shirt with black jeans that were equally form hugging. Below the jeans were heeled boots that looked like they could cause some damage if used properly.
As Nadya looked her over, Elise looked both Nadya and Ulbrecht over. Judging by her face, she still wasn’t satisfied that they weren’t hired porn stars sent by Lonestar.
“Well? What sort of information are you looking for? You should know beforehand, I’m not cheap.”
That was something Nadya had figured, and it raised the problem of how to pay for the information she wanted. There was always the hard way, but she didn’t exactly want to torture a woman she’d just met if there was another way.
“How much to point us in the direction of someone who knows how to stop the werewolf virus from taking hold?”
Elise smirked. “That would be some expensive information,” she said. “Especially since it’s so time sensitive.”
Nadya reached up, intending to pull the pistol from her jacket, but paused momentarily. When her hand started moving again, she reached instead inside one of her jacket pockets. She pulled out the keys to the Maserati and tossed them over to Elise. “That should be more then enough.”
Elise caught the keys and looked at them, seeing the vehicle maker’s insignia on it. “If there’s a car to go along with these keys.”
Nadya motioned to the window facing the street and Elise moved over to it, looking down. She turned back to her guests, giving them a smile. “Deal.” She pocketed the key.
Vlad would come here looking for her and he’d want the car back. If Elise handed it back without causing any trouble, there wouldn’t be any problems.
If she didn’t… well, at least her death wouldn’t be on Nadya’s mind.
She watched Elise walk over to a small desk and pull a slip of paper out, scribbling down a name and address then she walked over and handed it to Nadya.
The Russian girl read the address, grimacing. “Paris?”
“You’re lucky. He actually lives in London, but he’s on holiday in Paris.” While Nadya had to agree that it was good luck, Paris was still a long way from where they were.
And she’d just given up their speed.
She could steal another car easily, but there was no way she could find one with the speed of the Maserati.
“You’re sure he’ll be able to help?” Nadya asked, her voice making it clear that she wasn’t in any mood to be fucked with.
Elise nodded. “He actually is a werewolf. Hates that part of himself, though, and has a pretty extensive collection of remedies to halt the virus before it takes hold completely. I’d hurry, though, otherwise it might not work.”
Just then, there was a buzz at the door.
Nadya turned, her hand reaching for the gun. She doubted Vlad could’ve tracked her here this quickly, but there was always the possibility.
Elise moved past her and Ulbrecht, moving over to the door and tapping the button to respond. “Who is it?”
“Remy,” a gruff voice replied from the speaker.
Elise immediately buzzed him in, then turned back to Nadya and Ulbrecht. “One of my informants. He’s a werewolf, too. Works for a pretty powerful group of people, from what I can tell. Sells me information about his rivals. I guess it helps keep business better for him.” She moved past them again, heading for a nearby bar with a vast array of alcohol set up on it. “Would you like a drink?”
“Paris is a long way,” Nadya replied. “And we’re going to need to find some transportation. Thanks for the information.” She turned and started towards the door, Ulbrecht trailing behind.
As they reached it, the door opened and a man entered. Nadya paused. He looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t place him immediately. His black hair was a bit shaggy, his bangs hanging down over his eyes a little. His face was gaunt and he had a slender build. He was wearing a black dress shirt and matching slacks. She was about to shrug it off as just her mind playing tricks on her until the man looked up and locked his dark eyes on her.
His eyes widened in surprise and anger and then she was sure they’d met before. She just had no idea where. She watched as his face transformed and his teeth elongated into fangs.
That’s odd, she thought. Elise had said he was a werewolf, not a vampire.
Then it hit her.
Of all the rotten luck in the world, Elise’s informant had to be the same asshole werewolf that had caused her so much trouble the previous night. She hadn’t decapitated him. That had been a mistake.
Now he was back as a vampire.
“Fuck your mother…” Nadya muttered in Russian.
He charged her and she whipped out her pistol, firing. He ignored the bullets impacting his chest and kept charging. She sidestepped at the last moment and let him move past her, turning to face him as she moved. She ejected the empty magazine and grabbed a fresh one, slamming it into the gun.
Elise was confused by the sudden violent outburst and not very pleased about it. She stepped forward, a glass of vodka in one hand. “Remy, what the hell are you doing? And since when are you a vampire?”
Remy gave a snarl and turned back to Nadya, pointing a clawed finger at the girl. “Since that bitch killed me last night. What’s she doing here?”
“Looking for a werewolf cure,” Elise replied.
Remy charged Nadya and Ulbrecht again.
“We’ll be leaving now,” Nadya said to Elise. “Thanks again.”
She unloaded the pistol into Remy a second time as he charged, aiming for his legs. Several shots tore through his knees and he cried out before falling forward to the ground. Nadya shoved Ulbrecht through the door and followed after him, slamming it shut.
Once they were back in the hall, she ejected the second spent magazine and inserted a third, then turned and ran back towards the lift. She tapped impatiently at the button, wondering how long it would take the vampire to heal enough to give chase.
Luckily, the lift hadn’t descended far after depositing its last occupant and the doors opened to admit them. Entering, she pushed the button for the ground floor then tapped on the button to close the doors. Just as they slid closed, Elise’s door opened and Nadya saw the vampire come running out, looking severely pissed off.
Before he reached them, the doors shut and the lift started its descent.
Nadya shook her head. “I have the worst fucking luck…”
Now they’d have to take the first car they came across. There was no time to waste picking and choosing. Remy would have to wait for the lift to return to get down, but that wouldn’t give them much of a head start.
The doors opened and Nadya rushed out, Ulbrecht right behind her. They left the apartment complex and she looked from side to side, trying to spot a vacant vehicle. The only one she saw was the Maserati. Cursing, she moved out onto the street, looking further down the road.
Nothing.
From high above, there was the sound of shattering glass followed by a distinctly feminine scream.
Ulbrecht looked up but Nadya didn’t bother, grabbing him and yanking him out of the way of the falling glass shards. The scream was cut short, abruptly replaced by a vicious slicing sound. Nadya turned to see that a street sign had interrupted Elise’s fall. It had cleaved her in half, making quite a mess.
Her top half lay on one side of it, while her bottom half lay on the other. In the middle and strewn over the sign were her guts. Blood had splattered the pavement from the sudden bisection as well as the subsequent impact she’d had with the ground.
Her eyes were still open, staring up at Nadya but not seeing her. Or anything else.
The Russian girl wasted no time and quickly moved over to the woman’s corpse. Ulbrecht watched with a degree of disgust as she started to search the lower half of Elise.
“What are you doing?”
Nadya rose a few moments later and held up the keys to the Maserati then ran for the car. Needing no further explanation, and not really wanting to sit around staring at Elise’s gory remains, Ulbrecht followed.
