almost obscuring my eyes.
I’d carefully considered my next move. Valance hadn’t given me much room for manoeuvre. There was no way in hell I was going to work for her and her kind – that would be like striking a deal with the devil himself. I dare say the pay and perks would have been good, but I’d be selling out my own species, for Christ’s sake. And if Valance got it all her own way and the vampires did manage to take over, how long would I be useful for? I was willing to wager that I’d be living on borrowed time, and as soon as I was no longer considered usual then she wouldn’t think twice about putting me on ice. Or worse than that, winding up on one of her ‘blood farms.’
She obviously valued my services as a potential employee enough to even bother making the offer, after all - she could quite easily have murdered me right there in my own office. I figured she gave me the twenty four hours because she was totally convinced there was nowhere in the city I could hide out at or could try and make a break for it and jump the city altogether.
I decided to test the theory, so I stopped at the next public phone I came to. Cautiously, keeping an eye out all around, I dialled a number that very few people in the city knew about. I was calling just about the only place that could be classed as neutral territory. I was calling the Speakeasy.
After five rings the phone was picked up and a familiar voice answered.
“Y’ello?”
“Mack. This is Johnny. Johnny Jerome.”
“Oh. Hi Johnny.”
“Listen, you might have heard, I got a bit of a situation happenin’ here.”
“Yeah,” I heard Mack give a definite sigh, like he knew what was coming. “I’ve heard about it.”
“I see news travels fast. Anyway, I was wondering if, what with the Speakeasy being neutral and all-.”
“I’m sorry Johnny, no can do.”
“Hey, Mack, what gives here? We go back a fair way, don’t we?”
“We do, Johnny.”
“But?” I knew there would be a ‘but’ in there somewhere.
“But, this ain’t the old days no more, Johnny, times have changed. There is one defacto mob in Santa Justina these days – one mob, with one boss.”
“Vitalli?”
“Right. And what he says goes, you understand? He says you don’t come in here. He says this place ain’t neutral as far as you’re concerned.”
“And what about you, Mack, what do you say?”
“I say, Gianni Vitalli has put a price on your head so big that every two bit creep and hood in the city will be queuing up to put a cap in your ass – no matter where the hell you are. And it’s not just the hoods, it’s the cops too – all the dirty ones at least, so pretty much most of ‘em. You got no allies, Johnny, I don’t know what you got yourself into, but you’ve pissed Vitalli good and proper and from where I’m standing, you’re in some pretty deep shit.”
“So that’s the way it is, huh?”
“I’m afraid so, Johnny. If you want my advice, do what you can to get the hell out of the city. Rent an unmarked car in a false name, wear a disguise and put as many miles between you and this place as you can, ‘cos if you stay here – well, you’re basically a dead man.”
I thanked Mack for his advice and got off the phone. Things were bad. It seemed in the daylight at least that Vitalli wouldn’t honour Valance’s offer, he’d have hoods all over the city looking for me, and cops checking every exit out of the city too. I could probably give them both the slip easily enough, after all – this was just as much my home turf as it was theirs – but come sundown, well, that was a different matter. A whole different kind of individual would be stalking me then, and I had nowhere to hide.
*
The remainder of the day was one of frustration and desperation. I did give Mack’s advice a go, but it seemed that luck had completely deserted me. I tried three different car lots to see if I could anonymously rent a vehicle to escape the city in. The
I’d carefully considered my next move. Valance hadn’t given me much room for manoeuvre. There was no way in hell I was going to work for her and her kind – that would be like striking a deal with the devil himself. I dare say the pay and perks would have been good, but I’d be selling out my own species, for Christ’s sake. And if Valance got it all her own way and the vampires did manage to take over, how long would I be useful for? I was willing to wager that I’d be living on borrowed time, and as soon as I was no longer considered usual then she wouldn’t think twice about putting me on ice. Or worse than that, winding up on one of her ‘blood farms.’
She obviously valued my services as a potential employee enough to even bother making the offer, after all - she could quite easily have murdered me right there in my own office. I figured she gave me the twenty four hours because she was totally convinced there was nowhere in the city I could hide out at or could try and make a break for it and jump the city altogether.
I decided to test the theory, so I stopped at the next public phone I came to. Cautiously, keeping an eye out all around, I dialled a number that very few people in the city knew about. I was calling just about the only place that could be classed as neutral territory. I was calling the Speakeasy.
After five rings the phone was picked up and a familiar voice answered.
“Y’ello?”
“Mack. This is Johnny. Johnny Jerome.”
“Oh. Hi Johnny.”
“Listen, you might have heard, I got a bit of a situation happenin’ here.”
“Yeah,” I heard Mack give a definite sigh, like he knew what was coming. “I’ve heard about it.”
“I see news travels fast. Anyway, I was wondering if, what with the Speakeasy being neutral and all-.”
“I’m sorry Johnny, no can do.”
“Hey, Mack, what gives here? We go back a fair way, don’t we?”
“We do, Johnny.”
“But?” I knew there would be a ‘but’ in there somewhere.
“But, this ain’t the old days no more, Johnny, times have changed. There is one defacto mob in Santa Justina these days – one mob, with one boss.”
“Vitalli?”
“Right. And what he says goes, you understand? He says you don’t come in here. He says this place ain’t neutral as far as you’re concerned.”
“And what about you, Mack, what do you say?”
“I say, Gianni Vitalli has put a price on your head so big that every two bit creep and hood in the city will be queuing up to put a cap in your ass – no matter where the hell you are. And it’s not just the hoods, it’s the cops too – all the dirty ones at least, so pretty much most of ‘em. You got no allies, Johnny, I don’t know what you got yourself into, but you’ve pissed Vitalli good and proper and from where I’m standing, you’re in some pretty deep shit.”
“So that’s the way it is, huh?”
“I’m afraid so, Johnny. If you want my advice, do what you can to get the hell out of the city. Rent an unmarked car in a false name, wear a disguise and put as many miles between you and this place as you can, ‘cos if you stay here – well, you’re basically a dead man.”
I thanked Mack for his advice and got off the phone. Things were bad. It seemed in the daylight at least that Vitalli wouldn’t honour Valance’s offer, he’d have hoods all over the city looking for me, and cops checking every exit out of the city too. I could probably give them both the slip easily enough, after all – this was just as much my home turf as it was theirs – but come sundown, well, that was a different matter. A whole different kind of individual would be stalking me then, and I had nowhere to hide.
*
The remainder of the day was one of frustration and desperation. I did give Mack’s advice a go, but it seemed that luck had completely deserted me. I tried three different car lots to see if I could anonymously rent a vehicle to escape the city in. The
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