The Drinker of Blood

Chapter Nineteen

Miles reported directly to a man named Causey, a fellow I knew to be one of the blood drinkers who was attached to Whitefarrow. If I was not mistaken, this Causey was a youngster, a fellow whose second birth had been sometime in the last 50 years or so.

Such creatures can be naïve, and, as I've said, the youngsters learn most of what they think they know about being a blood drinker from Hollywood movies. As a group, they are exceptionally tedious.

That communication between Miles and Causey would be key to making my awkward and damnable plan work. But first I needed a location.

I'd lived in New York City a great many times over the years, and I knew the area passably well. It took no time at all to scout the places that interested me.

There was an abandoned seven-story office building along the Hudson River that fit the bill, about five blocks from Whitefarrow's fortified palace. It was not far from a series of midrange hotels.

On the day in question, Miles Frisby would give his men the day off and tell them to make themselves scarce.

Then about an hour before sunset he would phone and inform Causey that some of his men had stumbled across their quarry (yours truly) while making enquiries at a hotel and that they had shot me several times, they thought fatally. I then had fled into an abandoned building.

It was a scenario not unlike what had occurred in Chicago, but closer to home. One of my kind injured that close to sunset with a severe head or heart injury might not survive. Or the coming of night might provide renewed strength. It was a toss of the coin.

It would take only a short time for Causey to inform my enemy. Craven though he was, Whitefarrow would have to respond and to respond in force. He could not and would not miss an opportunity to eliminate me. But I happened to know that none of the blood drinkers who surrounded my enemy resided in the Centrix building. Like regular commuters, they traveled in from their own homes at night, and they would be reluctant to venture out even an hour before sunset.

The only question was whether Whitefarrow would risk going out in the waning sunlight in order to come find me himself.

He might just send his security detachment to deal with me, but that seemed unlikely. The building I scouted was enormous, an abandoned seven-story walk-up that would take much time to search. By the time Frisby made his call, and Causey relayed it to Whitefarrow, more time would have elapsed, giving them less than an hour to travel to the old office building and to search it.

One of my kind, even during daylight hours, could track down an injured rival in no time by the smell alone. Whitefarrow would have to come himself or miss his opportunity entirely.

Was I certain that he would come? No. He might just lack the courage. But I felt it was a strong possibility.

And even if Whitefarrow opted to send his security team and to stay behind, he would be left in his headquarters with a few security men, no blood drinkers, and only a handful of lackeys to support him.

It wasn't a good option, but I intended to ask Corey to send me a text in advance if Whitefarrow accompanied them to my location. If the great coward did not come, I would circle back to his headquarters and attempt to slip into his bunker undetected.

As I said, not a great option.

All that was lacking was the when. I finally settled on a date two days hence. From the communications that I monitored through Tanis, that was a normal business day, except that two of Whitefarrow's young blood drinkers would be out of town on business. I hoped to avoid dealing with those fools entirely, but on the chance that that proved futile, having two fewer of my kind with which to deal might be crucial.