"What are you, the damn health department?" the smaller man asked. He was dressed in a traditional chef's outfit. He had the big floppy hat wadded up in his hands. His dark uptilted eyes were sparkling with anger.
Charles is only six-one, but he seems bigger. His body is one wide piece from broad shoulders to feet. He seems to have no waist. He is like a moving mountain. Huge. His perfectly brown eyes are the same color as his skin. Wonderfully dark. His hand is big enough to cover my face.
The Asian chef looked like an angry puppy beside Charles. He grabbed Charles's arm. I don't know what he thought he was going to do, but Charles stopped moving. He stared down at the offending hand and said very carefully, voice almost painfully deep, "Do not touch me."
The chef dropped his arm like he'd been burned. He took a step back. Charles was only giving him part of the "look." The full treatment had been known to send would-be muggers screaming for help. Part of the look was enough for one irate chef.
His voice was calm, reasonable when he spoke again, "I run a clean kitchen."
Charles shook his head. "You can't have zombies near the food preparation. It's illegal. The health codes forbid corpses near food."
"My assistant is a vampire. He's dead."
Charles rolled his eyes at me. I sympathized. I'd had the same discussion with a chef or two. "Vampires are not considered legally dead anymore, Mr. Kim. Zombies are."
"I don't understand why."
"Zombies rot and carry disease just like any dead body. Just because they move around doesn't mean they aren't a depository for disease."
"I don't …»
"Either keep the zombies away from the kitchen or we will close you down. Do you understand that?"
"And you'd have to explain to the owner why his business was not making money," I said, smiling up at both of them.
The chef looked a bit pale. Fancy that. "I … I understand. It will be taken care of."
"Good," Charles said.
The chef darted one frightened look at me, then began to thread his way back to the kitchen. It was funny how Jean-Claude was beginning to scare so many people. He'd been one of the more civilized vampires before he became head bloodsucker. Power corrupts.
Charles sat down across from me. He seemed too big for the table. "I got your message. What's going on?"
"I need an escort to the Tenderloin."
It's hard to tell when Charles blushes, but he squirmed in his chair. "Why in the world do you want to go down there?"
"I need to find someone who works down there."
"Who?"
"A prostitute," I said.
He squirmed again. It was like watching an uncomfortable mountain. "Caroline is not going to like this."
"Don't tell her," I said.
"You know Caroline and I don't lie to each other, about anything."
I fought to keep my face neutral. If Charles had to explain his every move to his wife, that was his choice. He didn't have to let Caroline control him. He chose to do it. But it grated on me like having your teeth cleaned.
"Just tell her that you had extra animator business. She won't ask details." Caroline thought that our job was gross. Beheading chickens, raising zombies, how uncouth.
"Why do you need to find this prostitute?"
I ignored the question and answered another one. The less Charles knew about Harold Gaynor, the safer he'd be. "I just need someone to look menacing. I don't want to have to shoot some poor slob because he made a pass at me. Okay?"
Charles nodded. "I'll come. I'm flattered you asked."
I smiled encouragingly at him. Truth was that Manny was more dangerous and much better backup. But Manny was like me. He didn't look dangerous. Charles did. I needed a good bluff tonight, not firepower.
I glanced at my watch. It was almost midnight. Jean-Claude had kept me waiting an hour. I looked behind me and caught Willie's gaze. He came towards me immediately. I would try to use this power only for good.
He bent close, but not too close. He glanced at Charles, acknowledging him with a nod. Charles nodded back. Mr. Stoic.
"What ya want?" Willie said.
"Is Jean-Claude ready to see me or not?"
"Yeah, I was just coming to get ya. I didn't know you was expecting company tonight." He looked at Charles.
"He's a coworker."
"A zombie raiser?" Willie asked.
Charles said, "Yes." His dark face was impassive. His look was quietly menacing.
Willie seemed impressed. He nodded. "Sure, ya got zombie work after you see Jean-Claude?"
"Yeah," I said. I stood and spoke softly to Charles, though chances were that Willie would hear it. Even the newly dead hear better than most dogs.
"I'll be as quick as I can."
"Alright," he said, "but I need to get home soon."
I understood. He was on a short leash. His own fault, but it seemed to bother me more than it bothered Charles. Maybe it was one of the reasons I'm not married. I'm not big on compromise.
21
Willie led me through a door and a short hallway. As soon as the door closed behind us, the noise was muted, distant as a dream. The lights were bright after the dimness of the club. I blinked against it. Willie looked rosy cheeked in the bright light, not quite alive, but healthy for a deadman. He'd fed tonight on something, or someone. Maybe a willing human, maybe animal. Maybe.
The first door on the left said "Manager's Office." Willie's office? Naw.
Willie opened the door and ushered me in. He didn't come in the office. His eyes flicked towards the desk, then he backed out, shutting the door behind him.
The carpeting was pale beige; the walls eggshell-white. A large black-lacquered desk sat against the far wall. A shiny black lamp seemed to grow out of the desk. There was a blotter perfectly placed in the center of the desk. There were no papers, no paper clips, just Jean-Claude sitting behind the desk.
His long pale hands were folded on the blotter. Soft curling black hair, midnight-blue eyes, white shirt with its strange button-down cuffs. He was perfect sitting there, perfectly still like a painting. Beautiful as a wet dream, but not real. He only looked perfect. I knew better.
There were two brown metal filing cabinets against the left wall. A black leather couch took up the rest of the wall. There was a large oil painting above the couch. It was a scene of St. Louis in the 1700s. Settlers coming downriver in flatboats. The sunlight was autumn thick. Children ran and played. It didn't match anything in the room.
"The picture yours?" I asked.
He gave a slight nod.
"Did you know the painter?"
He smiled then, no hint of fangs, just the beautiful spread of lips. If there had been a vampire GQ, Jean-Claude would have been their cover boy.
"The desk and couch don't match the rest of the decor," I said.
"I am in the midst of remodeling," he said.
He just sat there looking at me. "You asked for this meeting, Jean-Claude. Let's get on with it."
"Are you in a hurry?" His voice had dropped lower, the brush of fur on naked skin.
"Yes, I am. So cut to the chase. What do you want?"
The smile widened, slightly. He actually lowered his eyes for a moment. It was almost coy. "You are my human servant, Anita."