CHAPTER 6
Tessa Medori
Mrs. Gultry stood patiently near the desk while Annie typed on the computer. She was a failing vampire in her eighties, with hair loss and deteriorating fangs. She wore a floral dress with ace bandages in lieu of stockings and clutched her homemade woven pocketbook near her chest. Charles poked his head into the office. “Annie, I also want to put in a prescription for 50 Megs of corplus. Her red cells are kind of low.” He looked at Mrs. Gultry, “Have your pharmacist give me a call.”
“Thank you, Doctor Foster,” the old woman smiled.
He shook his finger at her, “And you better start eating more red meat,” he laughed, “I better see those numbers up the next time you’re here.” He said to Annie, “Hey kiddo, schedule her a month from today.“
Charles sat comfortably in his favorite armchair while Annie straightened out the top of his desk, signaling it was the end of the workday. He looked at the wall clock; it was ten minutes past eight. “So, what’s going on, Annie?”
“These past few days have been crazy,” she said, “You look tired.”
He grinned cheerfully; “I’m glad this day is over, with the cops here, that vampire woman, Kyle being…” he stopped talking, and sighed.
“Yes, I know,” Annie agreed.
“Do me a favor; will you send some flowers to Kyle’s mother for me?”
“I already did.”
“You’re on the money, kiddo. How’s your woman’s intuition lately?”
“Why?”
“What do you think of Iza Cara?”
Annie clenched her lips and shook her head.
“No, huh?” Charles guessed.
“I don’t trust her,” Annie said, “And I think she killed Kyle, and if she didn’t, then she knows who did.”
Charles smiled artificially, and then frowned; which was also artificial. He was about to speak, but the sound of someone’s entrance into Annie’s office stopped him.
Annie went into her office. Charles rocked back in his armchair. Annie returned with a business card – Tessa Medori.
“This woman’s gorgeous; like a supermodel; classy too,” she said, “She even has her own card with her name on it.”
Charles looked at the card, “It’s her name on it,” he turned the card over, “Nothing else,” he laughed, “This is Tessa; Iza Cara’s daughter. Let her come in.”
Tessa walked in slowly with the gait of a million dollar thoroughbred. She wore a red maxi dress with a side slit to her waist, and dared to show all with a plunging V-neckline and an open cut out back. Her long, auburn hair, parted on one side, swept back disheveled and spent over her left temple. Her facial features were stunning; a reality come true in every man’s fantasy. She wore makeup around her green eyes, and bright red lipstick, which did not hide her fangs well when she opened her mouth. With her came the fragrance of an Imperial Majesty Perfume, exquisite enough to send a lover into a surreal world of pleasure.
Charles fell for none of her seduction. He inclined his head at her, and then pointed at a side chair and said, “Sit down, Tessa.”
Tessa nodded, making sure her breasts lifted as she inhaled deeply, and then exhaled, “Thank you.” She manipulated her sexy voice; her lips moving in harmony with every vowel and consonant. She sat down and squirmed, crossing her long legs, and placing her smooth hands on her knees.
Charles rocked back in his armchair, “Now what can I do for you, Tessa?” The cordial casualness of his voice and the way he rocked in his armchair were the same when he addressed her mother, Iza Cara. “Oh, and by the way,” Charles grinned, “Nice contacts; that’s a nice shade of green.”
Tessa placed her purse on the edge of his desk. Diamonds twinkled on two fingers of each hand. Her hands were soft and well cared for professionally. She played with her diamond earrings, then slowly dropped her fingers to her neckline, rubbed her palms together, and then tucked them under her chin. She tilted her head to expose a long, sensual neck, and whispered, “I’m sorry to hear about your intern’s unfortunate death.”
“Thank you,” Charles remained unmoved.
She sat up straight and massaged her throat while talking. “I know my mother visited you and those two detectives this morning. Do you think there may have been a relationship between the unfortunate death of Doctor McClendon and the death earlier of the vampire Dimitri Alexander?”
Charles said nothing. He stared at her in an expressionless way.
Tessa stood and leaned on the desk, “I’m sorry I brought that up, Doctor Foster. I get curious once in awhile. Is it okay if I call you Charles?”
“Doctor Foster is fine.”
“I am trying to recover an artifact that has been – I guess you can say – misplaced or mislaid. I thought, perhaps you could help me, since you’ve talked with my mother.”
Charles nodded with his eyebrows lifting, indicating he was giving her his full attention.
“It is a stone,” Tessa went on, selecting and mouthing her words carefully, “It is a stone six inches long with a stone cap, and is used as a cup; and contains a particular fluid vital to the existence of not only myself, but my mother.”
Charles nodded again, “It’s called the Sunbottle Stone. Your mother told me. I know all about it.”
“On behalf of the Sunbottle Stone’s rightful owner, we’re offering you twenty thousand dollars for its recovery.” She clasped her fingers together, and used her thumbs to play with the points of her fangs. “Twenty thousand, no questions asked.” She moved her face closer to his.
“So there is a third party,” Charles commented, “I have –“
Fingers tapped lightly on the door.
When Charles had called, “Come in,” the door opened enough to admit Annie’s head and shoulders. “Do you need me for anything else?” she asked.
“No. Have a great night. Make sure you lock the door when you leave, okay kiddo?” I’ll see you in the morning.” He turned in his chair, facing Tessa again. “I have to think about it. It’s a lot of money, but about the Stone—“
The sound of the office door’s closing behind Annie came to them.
Tessa smiled and reached into her purse and took out a compact pistol, “Doctor Foster,” she said, “Please put your hands together behind your head.”
Charles leaned back in his chair and entwined the fingers of his hands behind his head. His eyes remained focused on Tessa’s beautiful face and deadly fangs.
Tessa’s green eyes were not bashful, but boastful, even when she glanced at the sharpened stake and hammer on the bookshelf, and a bible and cross on another shelf. “I know she gave you the Stone. I know it’s here somewhere. I intend to search this office, Dr. Foster. I warn you, if you try to prevent me from finding the Sunbottle, I will certainly kill you. I promise, if I don’t shoot you, I will rip you apart.”
“Go ahead,” Charles smirked, “Look all you want. Didn’t your mother ever tell you about it?”
She pressed the muzzle into his chest. “Stand up,” she instructed, “I want to make sure you’re not armed.”
“I’m a doctor. I left all my automatic weapons at home,” he said sarcastically. He stood up and pushed his chair back by straightening his legs.
Tessa walked around behind him. She transferred the gun from her right to her left, and then scraped her fangs on his bare neck. Her breathing, her scent, her gentle touch, made him quiver.
“I can kill you right now,” she sighed, and gently flicked her tongue on his neck. “Better yet, I can turn you; make you like me, like my mother.” Pressing the pistol to his back, she put her right hand around Charles’ side and patted his chest. “No weapons, no Stone yet,” she breathed. Her face was no more than six inches below and behind Charles’ right elbow.
Charles spun to the right and dropped his elbow. Tessa’s face jerked back. The elbow struck her in the jaw, staggering her. His elbow went on past her shocked face and straightened out when he grabbed the pistol from her hand.
Charles grabbed her around her neck. Her face twisted with pain. Tears welled in her eyes, and the beautiful tone of her skin had reddened where his elbow struck her cheek. He put the pistol in his pocket, reached out and grabbed the wooden stake and mini sledge from the bookcase, and then shoved her to the floor. He pressed the stake into her cleavage and raised the sledge.
The look of pain in her reddened face switched to a perplexed glare. Then the bewildered stare turned to one of sheer horror. Charles smiled; his right shoulder rose a few inches, poised to drive the stake through her.
“Please, no,” Tessa whimpered, “Please, don’t do this.”
Charles didn’t use the hammer, but using the same fist clutching the weapon, he struck Tessa’s face.
Tessa shut her eyes and slumped unconscious.
Charles lowered her limp body into the chair. He took her wrist between finger and thumb, feeling her pulse. Then he dropped her wrist, and settled back in his chair.
Charles emptied Tessa’s pocketbook on his desk. The wallet contained her offer of twenty-thousand dollars in large bills. There was also a much-stamped Italian passport bearing her name and portrait; more of her business cards with her name embossed on the front and random scribbling on the back of some of them, one that read: Mom, 73 18th Avenue, Elizabethtown. Charles retrieved one of his own business cards and jotted the address on the back, and then turned over another card. He took the card to his desk, removed a pad and pen from his top drawer, and copied the content: Mr. Brine and Tessa, it is done, Pudgie.
Charles returned the contents to the pocketbook. Tessa slowly awakened; her eyes opened first, but took awhile to fix their gaze on any part of the room. She rubbed her lips and fangs and then took her finger away from her mouth and smoothed her red dress. She looked around the room in confusion, saw Charles, and sat up. She started to speak but clapped her face where Charles had struck her and left a bruise.
Tessa rubbed her face, “You put a mark on my face.”
“Cover it up with makeup,” Charles suggested, “It could’ve been worse.”
“I could have shot you, Doctor Foster. I could have ripped your throat apart.”
“You could have tried,” Charles conceded.
“But I didn’t.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Then why did you hit me after you took the pistol from me?”
“Sorry,” Charles said, “But would you rather I drove a wooden stake through your heart? It doesn’t bother me to do that. I’ve done it before.”
“Before we went through this entire fiasco, I offered you twenty-thousand for the Sunbottle Stone.” Tessa took her hand away from her bruised face, and returned to a side chair. “Where is it? Do you have it? I’m sure my mother left it in your care.”
“You’re wrong on all counts. I’ve never seen it. Your mother told me about it, and from what I understand, a messenger is bringing it to you when you turn twenty-five.”
“If it’s not here, then why did you risk my killing you to prevent my searching for it?”
“Maybe I’m not used to people like you coming into my office and holding me up at gunpoint.”
“Like I said, I’m ready to pay twenty-thousand for the Stone’s return. Of course I tried to spare the owner of this expense by taking the Stone from you. You would have done the same.”
“Who is he?”
Tessa shook her head, “I’m not answering that question.
Charles brushed his lower lip with his fingertip. “Twenty-thousand doesn’t seem like a lot of money when we’re talking about giving you a new life; a life in sunshine and comfort. If you’re getting to take a swig of that organism for free because it’s in your family, why does your boss want to buy it?”
“Because he’s the guardian, the keeper.”
“How did he lose it? Who took it from him?
“I don’t know those answers,” Tessa said nervously.
“Is your boss the third party Kyle had mentioned before we killed him?”
Tessa pulled back with her mouth agape.
“That’s right,” Charles said, “Doctor McClendon had a lot to say before we drove a wooden picket fence through his heart.”
Tessa rubbed her chest.
“Before he died, he told us there was a third party. What he did know is that this third party wasn’t a vampire. In fact he said he was wealthy.” Charles pointed at her diamonds, “Obviously you’ve met him.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I want to know who killed Doctor McClendon, and why.”
Tessa straightened out her skirt and stood up. “I’m leaving,” she said, “The offer still stands; twenty thousand.”
Charles needed a group of words to keep Tessa from leaving. He nodded his head, “That’s a lot of money; and all I have to do is turn the Stone over to you and your boss?”
Tessa moved away from the door.
“How about Dimitri Alexander and Pudgie? Did they work for your boss also?”
“Dimitri Alexander was a rotten snake. He’s dead, and I helped kill him. We tore him apart in a million pieces.”
“So I heard. What about Pudgie?”
Tessa didn’t acknowledge the question. “Do we have a deal on you getting us the Sunbottle Stone?”
“Twenty thousand now and twenty thousand when I deliver the bottle.” Charles said, “It’s not like you’re asking me to murder someone or rob a bank. I’ll do it honestly and within the law.”
“Thank you,” Tessa said, “I’ll bring your deal up to my boss, and see what he says. Now can I have my pistol back?”
Charles took the gun out of his pocket and handed it to Tessa.
She pointed the gun at his chest. “Keep your hands on the desk. I intend to search every inch of this office.”
Charles said, “I don’t believe this.” Then he laughed and said, “Go ahead, I won’t stop you.”
