Chapter 7

The red eye passenger count was light so our flight to Las Vegas was fairly comfortable. I took advantage of the extra space and stretched my long legs into the seat next to me. Taking advantage of some downtime in a safe environment, I slept through most of the five hours that we were in flight.

Shen sat in the row behind me and took light catnaps throughout the journey. He was too focused on finding Dao-Ming to relax enough to reach the level of deep sleep I’d settled into. Even so, the ability to relax his body and not have to look over his shoulder was a welcomed thing. His thoughts wandered back to his childhood when he and Dao-Ming would talk about their life plans and how they’d intertwine them together. He jerked back to the present when the lights of Las Vegas twinkled in the distance, sitting up straight as I watched them grow larger and larger. When the pilot asked that everyone fasten our seat belts he gently shook my shoulder and urged me awake.

The sun peeked over the horizon as we grabbed our carry-on luggage and left the plane. Unlike the plane, the terminal was crowded and tension permeated the air. It seemed as if every plane flying to Las Vegas that night decided to land at the same time. The crowds were irritable about the confusion and inconveniences. We were grateful we only brought carry-on luggage and were spared the ordeal of the baggage carousel.

Shen’s uncle had a friend who frequented Las Vegas. He’d asked him to call ahead to the limousine company that he always used to make sure we had a car waiting for us. This was something we were duly grateful for as we elbowed our way through the crowd toward the row of drivers holding signs with their designated passenger’s names on them.

Shen stopped in front of one holding a sign for “Mr. Wu.”

“I am Wu,” he informed him.

The driver smirked as he looked Shen up and down.

“Welcome to Las Vegas,” he said with an air of arrogance. “This is just a formality, but I’ll need to see your proof of identification.

My friend scowled. He didn’t mind having to show identification, but he did mind the arrogant tone of the driver’s voice. He reached for his wallet and produced his license. The driver studied it briefly before almost tossing it back into Shen’s outstretched hand.

“Do you have any luggage?” he asked impatiently.

We shook our heads to indicate a “no” and held up our carry-on luggage.

With an air of contempt, the driver took a deep breath and looked as if he was silently counting to three before he said, “If you’ll wait right outside those doors, I’ll bring the car around to you.”

Without a moment’s hesitation he strutted through the crowd and disappeared.

“He’s an arrogant son-of-a-bitch,” I grumbled.

****

The strip was blanketed with tourists, which only served to add to the stifling sensation generated by the intense sun. I stripped off my jacket and wiped away tiny beads of sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand.

“Welcome to the desert,” I said with disgust. “There sure are a hell of a lot of faces here. Do you have any ideas?”

“My uncle told me of a man who they feel is in the front of all of this,” Shen said. “He is called Stevenson and should be able to make the connection to the leader for us. I am told he will be at the Rock Ring tonight at the UFC match. We can catch up with him then.” Shen looked at his watch, “We have time, what would you like to do?”

“I’d like to get out of this heat,” I said as I mopped at my brow with the sleeve of my jacket.

He smiled and nodded in agreement while suggesting we find a place to get a cool drink.

Two young, scantily clad women walked by. I craned my head while my eyes followed the exaggerated swing of their hips. I guess old habits die hard.

By the way they were dressed and their body language, Shen was certain of their profession.

He looked at them thoughtfully and said. “Maybe we should ask those two to join us. They may be able to tell us something.”

A broad smile slowly spread across my face. “Now you’re talking,” I said with a chuckle.

I saw no harm in having a drink with a couple of pretty girls to pass the time away. We were in Vegas, after all.

He laughed and patted me on my shoulder. He was grateful for my company and support, even though he knew that I didn’t believe we were chasing vampires. That was understandable. If Shen hadn’t been exposed to the concept and stories since birth, he’ d never have believed it either.

His thoughts went to the tale of a vampire family that resided in China centuries ago. Legend had it that Dracula fled Transylvania during his “lost years” and hid in the hills bordering Tibet. He fell in love with a local farmer’s daughter and took her as his mistress. She bore him an illegitimate son. When Dracula returned to Transylvania, he left his mistress and her son behind.

Shen came from a long line of aristocratic people who fought off that bastard vampire to protect their people until, one day centuries later, Dracula’s illegitimate son just disappeared with only speculation about where he went. Except for an occasional skirmish with a stray vampire, the villagers found peace and were able to focus on the nature of living.

Now he was in Las Vegas, Nevada, picking up where his ancestors left off with my help; looking for vampires. He wasn’t trained like his ancestors were, but his uncle assured him that the memories were in his DNA and they would surface when needed. Shen was counting on it. He wondered if this was the same vampire clan that his ancestors fought so many years ago. He also questioned how many vampires existed in the world.

He’d thought about telling this tale to me when we first embarked on our search and then decided against it. I’ d already scoffed at the idea of vampires and made it clear that I was only coming along because he needed me to help find Dao-Ming. I could accept the concept of searching for a ring of human traffickers, but that’s as far as it went. He understood and was just grateful I was willing to come along.

Even though I had a significant understanding and respect of Shen’s people and his culture, I was still American born and raised and we didn’t honor old traditions like the Chinese did. After all, America was founded by people who wanted to break away from traditions. He worried I might laugh at such a tale even harder than I did when he mentioned the possibility of vampires being at the head of the abduction operation; or I’d think he’d gone crazy and decide to abandon him at a time when he needed me most. He therefore decided that unless it was necessary, the less mentioning of vampires, the better.