Fool's Gold by Jaye Wells

Fool’s Gold
    Los Angeles, November 1979
    The guy on camera wore a ratty ski mask, a black turtleneck stretched precariously over a beer gut and too-tight bell-bottoms. The wall behind him was covered in some sort of collage done in shades of black and white with accents of red. I tried to make out the details, but the poor video quality made the picture fuzzy.
    I shook my head at the grainy image. If it had been anyone else showing me this, I’d think it was a joke. But the Dominae weren’t exactly known for their senses of humor. I glanced over at Slade. He wasn’t smiling. He rarely did, from what I’d seen. Of course, I’d only known him for about ten minutes, and his lack of good humor was probably due to his not wanting to be saddled with a rookie.
    â€œMy name is Viper,” the guy on tape said dramatically. I barely managed not to roll my eyes at the fake name. “For too long we, the mighty Lilim , children of Lilith, have hidden in the shadows. The time has come to reveal ourselves to the sons of Adam. Unless—”
    He paused dramatically. I knew what was coming and resisted the urge to fast-forward through his lame speech.
    â€œâ€”the Dominae give me one billion dollars!”
    I choked on a shocked laugh. Viper wasn’t the first vampire to try to extort money out of the Dominae. But he was the first to demand such a ridiculous sum.
    â€œThe money must be deposited by midnight Wednesday or I will give all the major media outlets in LA the story of the century.”
    He went on to rattle off the name of a local bank and an account number. Tanith cut the tape off as he started to rant again.
    â€œDo you have the envelope the tape came in?” Slade asked, all business. His look screamed badass assassin. Dressed in black from neck to toes, he wore a leather blazer, slacks, and expensive Italian leather shoes. In fact, the only things keeping his look from being a Shaft rip-off were his pale skin and auburn hair.
    Tanith shook her head. Of the three Dominae who ruled the Lilim , she was in charge of the business side of running the race. Considering the sum of money this guy was demanding, it wasn’t a surprise she was taking point on this. In all honesty, I was glad it was she and not my grandmother who was talking to us. As the Alpha of the race, Lavinia Kane rarely concerned herself with this sort of issue. But I was surprised she wasn’t there to watch me squirm when Tanith told me my first job as an assassin would be shadowing someone. Disappointing me was somewhat of a hobby for my grandmother.
    â€œWe had them dusted,” Tanith was saying. “No fingerprints.”
    Slade nodded. “Have you tracked the account he mentioned?”
    â€œThe account belongs to a Zeke Calebow.” She slid a file across the table.
    I scooted closer to Slade to get a look at the contents. He ignored me and focused on the papers. The picture clipped inside was a mug shot of a portly male vamp with shaggy copper hair and freckles. He looked stupid and mean—a bad combination. The guy in the video wore a ski mask, but my gut told me this Zeke and Viper were one in the same.
    â€œWhat do we know about Zeke?” I asked.
    Tanith sighed. “Not much. Family is trash. Last known job was a strip club in the Valley.”
    Slade slammed the folder shut before I could read the name of the club from the dossier. “We’ll check it out,” he said in a clipped tone.
    â€œYou have seventy-two hours to neutralize this threat.” Tanith said, looking from Slade to me and back again. “I don’t think I have to remind you how sensitive this matter is. We want this guy dead yesterday.”
    â€œConsider it done,” Slade said. Then he turned on his heel and marched toward the door. He didn’t look back to make sure I followed. But I did anyway.
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    An hour later, Slade pulled up in front of the Tit Crypt. He hadn’t said