It was after nine o'clock when Maura went looking for Lacroix. He'd said the purchase meeting would be at ten p.m., well after sunset for obvious reasons. Upon going to the back door to search the garden and back yard, she found a note stuck to the screen door.
Maura, it read, I will be home soon. You're right, this is something that has been waiting for too long. I love you. I'll see you soon. - N.
She smiled as she read the note... repeating himself was Nick's forte and could be annoying at times. Not this time. She switched on the back floodlight and went out in search of her new, if reluctantly contracted, business partner. She could just make out his form seated on one of the stone benches at the back edge of the overgrown garden. She reminded herself that next year - it was August now and well after gardening season - to hire someone to come in and tend it properly. For now she approached Lacroix without too much care about startling him. Nobody could "sneak up on" Lucien Lacroix.
"We should get going," she told him as she reached where he sat. "Arriving early never hurts a deal."
"In a moment," he answered. He seemed strangely subdued.
She crossed in front of him, peering down. He was gazing into the darkness, and she finally understood.
"She's out there somewhere, Lacroix. If I know it you have to know it too."
Janette's sudden departure had happened quite some time ago and though Lacroix had brushed it off at the time as "comings and goings are part of our kind", Maura knew it affected him in ways he wouldn't be prepared to discuss. Janette had not only moved on, she'd masked her departure from everyone including Nick and Lacroix, and that made it different. Even much later an elder like Lacroix should be able to discern her existence, if not her precise location, and clearly that was not the case.
"I don't know what you mean," he told her. "I've simply been enjoying the darkness and considering its possibilities. There is much more of it here than in Toronto. It will conceal a multitude of... personal pursuits." He rose and looked down at her. "Your parameters not withstanding." As he accompanied her to the Caddy he added, "I do hope you are a less erratic driver than Nicholas."
"Gimme a break," Maura snorted. "It's not like you're fearing for your life."
"Perhaps not. But even I prefer a smooth journey."
Mike was busy stocking the bar when they arrived. He'd delayed opening until after the meeting... something he hated to do, given the precarious financial situation. But he knew the regulars would arrive when the "Open" sign was lit, regardless of the hour. If it was before last call they'd be there.
"Mike Bradley, Lucien Lacroix," Maura introduced. "I found out just yesterday that he was the interested buyer Eric told me about. We were..." she searched for a word. "Business associates in Toronto. He was the most recent owner of Club Raven I told you about, and I managed it for him. We have a demonstrated record of success; I can show you some of the financial records later." She'd kept her management paperwork stored on her home hard drive and hadn't bothered to do anything with them even after leaving Toronto.
"Oh I don't know if I'll need to see them, your word is good enough for me," Mike said with a smile. "Sorry I can't shake hands, they're a little full at the moment." He finished putting the iced bottles in the cooler, then reached for Lacroix's hand. "Pleased to meet you."
Thank God his hands are cold from the beer, Maura thought to herself, he won't notice Lacroix's crypt-keeper handshake.
"Hey Maura," Eric called out as he came in from the stock room. "This must be the new blood." He managed not to smile. He knew what Lacroix was and suspected the elder vampire knew the same of him. He didn't try to shake hands.
"Eric Nadeau, barback and general dogsbody, this is Lucien Lacroix, my associate from Toronto." She immediately wished she'd offered a little more explanation to avoid questions, but Mike didn't seem to notice. He could sense light at the end of his bar-owning tunnel and that's all he was focused on.
"Eric, why don't you show Mr. Lacroix around so he can have a clearer idea what he's getting into." He added a wide "just kidding" smile. "Maura and I will talk other details."
"Lead on," Lacroix invited with a wave of his hand, and Eric took him into the kitchen as Mike and Maura repaired to the office.
"Don't be put off by his demeanor," Maura instructed Mike as he sat at the desk and she in the other office chair. "He's a little stiff, some people read it as superior. He is a bit of a snob in some ways but he won't jerk you around."
That much was guaranteed. By now Maura knew that Lacroix was committed to making Ernie's his new playground, and that he was taking "the tour" for form's sake only. Like her, he didn't see the need to raise too many questions even if he saw himself as well above having to answer them.
"Hey you know in this line of work you meet all kinds. If I took any of it personally I'd have quit this dive a long time ago."
By the time they'd gone from the kitchen to the storeroom both Lacroix and Eric had abandoned the pretense of being complete strangers.
"We know what we are," Eric told Lacroix. "So the only question is, what happens next."
"What happens next is that I purchase this quaint tavern and together with my 'associate' turn it into a successful business."
In Lacroix's mouth "quaint tavern" could be confused with "sorry gutter-end" and "associate" with "inferior". Eric ignored the inflection.
"You know what I mean."
The vampire sighed. "I'm afraid along with our business contract I have agreed not to molest Maura's fellow traveler in not-quite-mortaldom. So the answer is... nothing happens next that will surprise you." When Eric did not look convinced, Lacroix added, "Allow me to rephrase. Nothing will happen that will disturb what you see as your life. Will that be satisfactory?"
"I guess so."
Eric was leading the way to the bar proper when he noticed Lacroix was not following.
"What?"
"I'm a stranger to this rural backwater, but I believe even in such places an agreement consists of two statements. I have told you what you may expect of me. What may I expect of you?"
The answer was simple. "Nothing. Who would believe me anyway?"
"Your sister, perhaps."
Eric bristled. "You leave her out of it. Yeah she knows but she follows my lead because it's all she can do."
"Now, now," Lacroix soothed in a silky, if smarmy, voice. "I have no intention of interfering with the lovely Ms. Nadeau. It is in all of our best interests to avoid attracting the attention of the Enforcers."
"This is the second time I've heard about the Enforcers. Maura wouldn't tell me about them, or should I say she didn't have time."
Lacroix raised an eyebrow in surprise. It would be unlike Nicholas' true love to leave out such an essential piece of information, even as she shared the rest. A most dangerous oversight.
"You may think of the Enforcers as their name implies. They maintain a certain order among our kind. Because it wouldn't do to blur the lines between mortals and ourselves by revealing our true natures to them haphazardly. The Enforcers prevent chaos, in very direct fashion."
Eric shrugged. "Kind of like vampire policeman."
Lacroix's intense expression silenced any further comment from Eric.
"Far more than that. In your local parlance, it would be wise to 'lay low' and keep to the most mortal life of which you're capable. If you do not, you cannot imagine what would result."
"Uh... okay. I'll take your word for it."
"Good lad. Now let's complete the grand tour so I can finalize arrangements with Mr. Bradley. I bore easily, and am reaching my limit of interest."
After only ten minutes in Lacroix's company Eric found that very easy to believe.
Mike quoted a price to Lacroix that any mere mortal would have laughed at. Lacroix didn't even blink.
"Of course I will be replacing the furnishing and fixtures you mention in your price," he advised, "but I find your request agreeable. I shall have my bank draw up a check tomorrow."
Mike couldn't believe his ears. "Tomorrow? Are you sure you don't want to think about it some?" In spite of his eagerness to get rid of Ernie's, he also had to live here. An unhappy buyer could make his life hell.
"Why waste time? It is precisely what I'm looking for as a new..." Here he cast a wicked eye at Maura. "Venture."
"Then seventy-five thousand is the final figure," Mike declared.
"Done." Lacroix ignored the (former) bar owner's outstretched hand. "Have your lawyer, or banker, or whoever passes for such things in this little..." Maura nailed him with a warning glance and he continued, "hamlet. You may call Maura to advise when the final papers are to be signed." He was already halfway to the door. "I'll explore the town, Maura. I will find you when it's time to return to your home. Which reminds me," he addressed to both Mike and Eric. "I'll require a home of my own in the area. It need not be in town, anywhere in the county will do. I would be grateful if you could direct me to an agent."
Mike wrote down a name and number on a scrap of paper and handed it to Lacroix, who passed it to Maura. "If you wouldn't mind making the initial contact, I will pursue the matter after I conclude arrangements in Toronto."
He left without another word.
"Well you were right, he does seem a little superior," Mike acknowledged. "But he didn't bat an eye at the price! Nobody around here would offer me a third of that for this place."
"Nobody around here is as awash in ready cash as Lacroix," Maura informed him. Except Nick, she added mentally. Before Mike could ask she explained, "Wise investments. Lacroix takes the long view."
"The longest," quipped Eric.
Mike was too taken by his good fortune to notice.