Absolution - The First Book Of The Vampire Immortalis Trilogy by Elizabeth Mitchell

yards. Nick's breathing was becoming heavier. Five yards. He had his finger on the trigger of the gun that was still hidden in his coat pocket. This was going to be easy. Too easy. Adam McLeod didn't know what was about to hit him.
    “Don't do it, Nick!” shouted Walter who was running to catch up with his friend. He hadn't signed up for this. Not really. He thought it would be a bit of fun, a game, being a vampire hunter. He certainly didn't want to see someone die and his friend go to prison for murder.
    Walter's shouting made Muckle, Lisa and Adam look at the two men coming towards them. Muckle and Lisa didn't have time to register what was going on, but Adam did. He saw a balding middle age man heading straight for him, hand in pocket, fondling what could well be a weapon.
    It all happened in a blur, but if you had been able to see it in slow motion, you would have seen Adam spring forward and deliver a devastating front kick to Nick's left knee. It connected with such force that it shattered the kneecap, leaving Nick on the ground screaming blue murder. “Somebody call an ambulance,” Adam said, “I think this man's having a heart attack.” As he spoke, he ripped the gun from the man's pocket then punched him hard in the kidney, leaving him gasping for air and writhing in agony.
    Muckle and Lisa were still trying to make sense of what had just happened. It all happened so quickly. One moment a man was walking towards them, the next he was collapsed on the ground and Adam had rushed to his aid. Walter too was looking on in total disbelief. Nick had been right. When the man standing over his friend looked directly at him, Walter froze momentarily like a rabbit caught in headlights and then Walter was off, running down the road in the direction of the Tweed.
    A lady came running across the road. “I'm a nurse at the Borders General,” she said. “Can you please move back now and let the gentleman get some air.”
    Adam winked at Nick and then walked back over to Muckle and Lisa. Within a matter of minutes, an ambulance had arrived and Nick was on his way to hospital.
    “Wow, I've never seen anyone move that quickly,” said Lisa. “How did you know he was going to collapse?”
    “Oh, I did an American Heart Association Heartsaver First Aid Course at school and recognised the symptoms. No biggie really.”
    Muckle was having none of it. “No biggie? You just saved a man's life!”
    Only because there were too many witnesses
, Adam said to himself.

CHAPTER NINE
     
     
     
     
     
    Liam had been sitting on an uncomfortable wooden chair in the interview room for quarter of an hour, waiting to be questioned. He still had no idea why he'd been hauled in, but hoped that whatever the reason, he wouldn't be at the station for long. He had a job to get to and had already had a written warning for missing two shifts.
    The incident room door opened and a man and a woman walked in. “I'm DCI Buchan and this is DC Carter. Sorry for keeping you waiting, Liam, but we would just like to ask you a few questions in connection with the two murders.”
    “Fire away,” said Liam cockily, “but I need out of here by seven as I'm working tonight and still need to go home to get changed.”
    The boy sat in front of him certainly didn't look like a photofit murder suspect, but Buchan was long enough in the tooth to know that murderers came in all shapes and sizes. “Let's get straight down to business then. Tell me about the Melrose goths, Liam.”
    “What's there to tell? It's just a group of friends that hang about together.”
    “Humour me, Liam, I'm an old man. When I was your age, punk was the big thing. We were going to change the world, one safety pin at a time. The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Rezillos. Siouxsie And The Banshees, heard of them?”
    Of course Liam had heard of them and he nodded his head to acknowledge the fact. Siouxsie Sioux was still something of a goth icon and Buchan knew he would strike a chord with