The World's Greatest Lover ------Chapter 12
Chapter 12
The sun descended on the Toronto skyline and with it tucking safely in the horizon, Henry awoke with a gasp. He quickly glanced around his condo with a frown due to not sensing Vicki’s presence. Since their relationship had blossomed into more than friendship, he always enjoyed waking to find her either lying next to him or tucked in some secluded corner of his home reading, typing on the computer or watching TV. It was the most domestic that Henry had ever been in his long life and he thoroughly enjoyed their private moments shared together. Going to grab his cell phone to call her, he noticed the blinking light indicating that he had a message. Upon retrieving his message he hurriedly showered and dressed with anticipation of meeting Vicki at her office.
Mike was already at Vicki’s when Henry came strolling in looking every bit the picture of complete perfection. He breezed over to Vicki and placed a seductively wicked kiss on her lips. The effect was not lost on Mike.
“Well good evening your lordship. If you could reign in your sexual advances towards Vicki for a moment than maybe we could get this case of hers solved and the rest of us can go and have a pleasant evening.”
“Jealous are we detective.”
“Of you stealing my girl?.........Absolutely”
“I think that you mean my girl and I didn’t steal her, she came more than willingly.” Henry had a very smug, self satisfied smirk on his face as those words trailed from his mouth.
At this point, Vicki was becoming extremely irritable.
“Boys, can we control the testosterone for a moment and concentrate on finding answers about this Casanova.”
Henry’s only response was a slight bow and retort. “As my lady wishes”
After getting Henry up to speed on the events from earlier today, they formulated a plan for confronting their mystery man. The hour was approaching to when he had arranged the meeting at his office space. When they arrived at 12786 Yonge Street, the building was brightly lit and Henry could sense at least 3 bodies moving about inside. They were getting ready to storm into the building when Vicki’s cell phone rang. It was Rajani. Vicki quickly flipped the phone open so that she would not alert the occupants to their presence.
“Hey Rajani what’s up?”
“Vicki I have identified that contents of the vile that you brought me.”
“Fantastic what was it?”
“Well for the most part it is simply a mixture of different Chinese herbs, but the interesting item that I found was the presence of Jiao Gu Lan.”
“What the hell is that?”
“It is a holistic herb that has been linked with anti-aging and longevity. The binding substance appears to be molecular.”
“OK. You lost me.”
“There is DNA in it.”
“Is it blood?”
“Blood or something like blood. It’s hard to say, but definitely not human.”
“Thanks Rajani. You have been a big help.”
Vicki hung up the phone and just shook her head. “Damn, I have a bad feeling about this. Why can’t a missing person’s case be just that without having to draw in the entire freak show along with it?”
Henry had already heard the extent of the conversation, so Vicki quickly filled Mike in on what Rajani had uncovered. Mike simply threw his hands up in the air.
“I knew it. Didn’t I say earlier Hell on earth. So what do you think this guy is?”
“Mike we don’t know, but we are getting ready to find out.”
With that Vicki took off towards the front door, both men hot on her heels. She tested the door which surprisingly was unlocked and barged inside. There was a nicely dressed gentleman shuffling through papers. By the look on his face, they had definitely held the element of surprise.
“Can I help you?” He asked in his most distinguished voice, trying to not sound shaky or off guard. However, he could not fool Henry who had honed in on the sound of his rapidly beating heart.
Vicki promptly responded back “I surely hope so, we are looking for John Casanova. Is that you?”
“Why yes madam. How can I be of assistance?”
“Well for starters my name is Vicki not madam and then you can tell me the whereabouts of Mary Gallagher and her daughter Jessica.”
“And why do you want to know?”
“Hey I am the one asking the questions here. Now tell me where they are.” Vicki was becoming irate and it was apparent by the sternness and the high pitched tone in her voice.
“I do not know who you are or what you want with them, so I will not give you any further details without some explanation first.”
Vicki narrowed her eyes at the man, trying to intimidate him. When it did not work, she sighed heavily and explained that Jessica had hired her to find her mom and now both women were missing. John laughed softly which inflamed Vicki. She started towards him when Henry grabbed her arm.
He whispered “Vicki let me give it a try.” With that he rushed the man, grabbing him by the throat. His eyes faded to black and his fangs descended. With his hypnotic and authoritative tone, Henry asked him
“Where are Mary and Jessica? You will tell us everything that you know about them and their whereabouts.”
John trembled in Henry’s grasp. His concentration was broken by a shrill scream and a feminine voice pleading for his release. Everyone turned to see a stunningly, beautiful woman standing in the doorway. She had a glowing aura about her that was currently being threatened by the look of terror on her face. Vicki cautiously looked the woman up and down. There were all sorts of thoughts running through her head. She proceeded with the most obvious.
“And just who the hell are you?”
The woman glanced at Vicki shocked and after a long silence she responded to her question.
“I’m Mary, Mary Gallagher.”
At that moment, Jessica walked in to stand beside her mother. She glowed with that same aura and with a smile on her face, she pleasantly greeted the visitors.
“Hello Ms. Nelson. How are you this evening?”
For once Vicki was dumb struck. Her mind could not formulate the words that were so desperately trying to escape. The one thought that she did coherently have is can this case possibly get anymore bizarre.