Page 91 of Cooper’s Passion

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The smell of the brackish water of the San Francisco Bay drifted into Cooper’s nose, and he knew they were only a few yards away from it. The vampire who’d captured him had tossed him in the trunk of a car, his hands bound by silver and a silver chain around his neck. The metal bit into him like acid, eating away the top layers of his skin to get to the sensitive flesh beneath. The physical pain was excruciating, but the emotional one was worse. The attacker had shot his mother, Yvette, and Cooper had no idea whether Scanguards had gotten to her in time to save her.

At least fifteen minutes had passed since the ambush. He wasn’t sure where exactly he was. The attacker had dragged him out of the trunk moments earlier inside a building, and all Cooper could see was that they were in a large warehouse or hanger that appeared abandoned. A large window provided a view of the road leading to the building, and by the looks of it, it was the only way to reach it. He assumed that only water and maybe a pier were behind the building. It gave his opponent the upper hand: should anybody approach, he would be able to shoot them like fish in a barrel.

Cooper was tied to a pipe at one wall, propped up against the damp surface of the brick for support. Defiantly, he glared at the vampire as he approached. He was indeed the man Ginger had described to the sketch artist, and the one Anita had recognized as her mother’s abductor.

“What do you want with me?” Cooper ground out, forcing himself to ignore the pain. He wasn’t defeated yet. He trusted Scanguards to come for him, even though his attacker had taken his cellphone from him, and either discarded it or removed the chip so Scanguards couldn’t track it. They’d have to find him by different means. He just had to buy himself enough time to give them a chance to locate him.

“I’m not really interested in you per se, just what you can do for me.” An evil chuckle echoed in the empty hall. “I don’t swing that way, if you get my meaning.”

Cooper didn’t care either way. “I don’t see that there’s anything I can do for you.” He shrugged, tilting his head slightly toward his bound hands. “Given that I’m a little tied up.”

“So you wanna play the funny one. Your moods change quickly, considering that you screamed for your mama not too long ago.”

“Fuck you!” Cursing made him move his head, resulting in the silver chain chafing more violently against his neck. A pained grunt made it past his lips.

The killer smiled. “Well, let’s get down to business then, now that we’ve established who’s in charge.” He pulled a cellphone from his pocket and punched in a number. Two yards away from Cooper, he pointed it straight at him. “We’re doing a little video call, so smile for the camera.”

Cooper clenched his jaw.

“Hello?”

He recognized Anita’s voice instantly, even though she sounded choked up as if she’d been crying.

“Anita,” the vampire said, “look who wants to say hello.”

“Oh God, no! Cooper!” Anita cried out. A sob followed.

From the background noise coming through the line he deducted that Anita was still in the command center surrounded by Scanguards staff.

“I have a little trade to propose,” the serial killer said. “I’ll let him go. Unharmed. Well, almost unharmed, but he’ll be alive. Would you like that?”

“Let him go!” Anita demanded.

The vampire’s grin sent a chill down Cooper’s back. Before he even continued, Cooper instinctively knew what the man wanted. A trade, that’s what he’d said. And he knew exactly what kind of trade the asshole would propose.

“Don’t listen to him, Anita!” Cooper yelled. “Whatever he’s offering you, don’t—”

A gloved fist punched him so hard that his head whipped to the side, and the violent action made the silver chain slice even deeper into his neck. He cried out in pain.

“Don’t touch him!”

“As you wish, my dear Anita,” the vampire said. “You know, you’re just like your mother in so many ways.”

A loud gasp came through the line, and Cooper could only imagine what Anita was going through right now. “Don’t listen to him, Anita!”

“Would you shut up for a minute or do I have to cut your tongue out? Goddamn it, your boyfriend is an annoying piece of shit. I can’t wait to get him out of my sight. So, here’s how it’s gonna go: you, my dear Anita, will come to me, alone, and once you’re here, I’ll let him go. Simple as that. He in exchange for you. It’s a pretty good deal.”

“Don’t, Anita!” Cooper yelled. “The moment you’re here, he’s gonna kill me anyway. You can’t trust him!”

The vampire let out an annoyed huff and reached into the back of his waistband with his free hand, pulling a gun from it. He pointed it at Cooper. “I said, shut up!” He pulled the trigger.

The silver bullet hit Cooper’s upper thigh, the impact and the resulting pain knocking the wind out of him. He screamed involuntarily, unable to clamp his jaw shut.

“No! Cooper, no!” Anita screamed through the phone.

“Now, listen to me, Anita! That was a silver bullet, and if you don’t know what a silver bullet does to a vampire hybrid, ask his family, they’ll tell you. He’s got thirty minutes, maybe forty-five until the silver burns him from the inside, and he’s gonna turn into a pile of ash. You wanna save him? I’ll text you my location. Come alone. If I see anybody but you coming closer than a quarter mile, I’ll stake your boyfriend instantly. Take a convertible and keep the top down. I wanna see that you’re alone. No tricks. Now get moving. Clock’s ticking.”

He disconnected the call.

“I’m gonna kill you,” Cooper pressed out through clenched teeth, the pain of the silver attacking his body from the inside making him delirious. He could only hope that his friends and family at Scanguards would stop Anita from going through with this exchange.