21 - Vampire the Masquerade
Arrival in Hollywood
I was riding in my cab, heading to Hollywood, blabbing away on my cell. I was talking to Wesley. Wesley was following the cab in his car. He had Mazda 3, with a six-speed manual transmission and a turbo. He had also made some other modifications to improve engine performance. It was one sweet ride. We had come up with a plan to recover the sarcophagus, after we found out where the damned thing was.
Our plan for the sarcophagus was simple. Wesley was to stay separate from me, watching my back, and not get involved until I needed him. That was why he was using his own car. We had worked out a set of shorthand texts to send each other on our cells. Right now, we were in general conversation. I had no worries about my driver overhearing. There was no way that he could know where Wesley was located, or who he was. For now, things were going well. Of course, it had been slightly over a month since LaCroix had charged me with finding the sarcophagus and my first stop should be at Isaac Abrams" jewelry store. But I had eliminated the Sabbat intrusion into Malibu and had gained a partner. It was a fair trade.
My driver dropped me on Rodeo Drive, which is a really fancy and high-priced shopping area. I waited until Wesley got his car parked, and I saw him, on the other side of the street. He nodded. I walked two blocks to the jewelry store, and the store was closed. I walked around the corner to a side entrance and knocked. Isaac opened the door, bid me enter, and we started to talk.
"It took you long enough to get here, Childe," Abrams remarked. "It has been over a month since the prince charged you with finding the stolen sarcophagus. It is not as if my store is hidden, and impossible to locate. And I am always here."
"I had some personal matters to straighten out," I answered. "It took longer than expected, and involved an encounter with Sabbat. That mess is cleaned up. LaCroix told me that you were the guy to see about Clan Nosferatu."
"I am no lover of LaCroix," Abrams stated. "I am Anarch in my politics. L. A. has not needed the Camarilla in the past, and has no need of them now. I resent the prince attempting to meddle here."
"Well," I responded, "LaCroix"s concern is with the sarcophagus, and he believes Gary and his Nosferatu gang stole it. For me, I have no clue. It could be anywhere. The prince pays me, and so I will look for this huge, stone coffin for him."
"A great deal has happened in the month you were busy," Abrams said. "The Nosferatu have seemed to vanished. They appear to be gone from the face of the earth, or at least from Hollywood."
"How do you know this?"
"I do not know where the Nosferatu hide," Isaac went on. "If someone came to me to contact them, I would send them an email. Yes, Gary has an email address. Usually he would respond within one day. In the past month, I have not heard from him. He has answered none of my emails, and now, it seems, the address has been disabled. It may be cause for concern, or it may not. The Nosferatu are masters of stealth and can hide from even the sharpest of eyes."
"Shit," I said. "Another dead end, it seems. You have any suggestions on where else I can look?"
"You could try Vesuvius," Isaac said. "That is a strip club run by a Toreador named Velvet Velour." Here he snickered. "She believes that she is an exotic dancer, but she does make money at the place." Now he got serious again. "Another place is the Asp Hole. It is a very classy and popular nightspot run by Ashe, my Childe. Both of them have used the services of the Nosferatu in the past. I would start there."
"Thanks for the help, Isaac. It"s not much, but at least it is a start."
"A word of advice before you leave, Childe," Isaac said. "Do not trust the baby-faced Prince LaCroix. He has an agenda of his own, and he keeps it well hidden."
"Yeah, well," I responded, "I don"t trust him. I smell a rat. But, I have no reason to trust you, either, Isaac. Until we meet again."
With that, I left Isaac Abrams. I hooked up with Wesley, and we decided to visit Vesuvius first. Wesley wanted to see a vampire stripper in action.
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