Blood Canticle - Anne Rice [113]
The island was oval-shaped. The resort covered the crescent-shaped south and southwest shore, with a huge margin of beach, and the rest of the island was jungle with rocky cliffs, apparently totally undeveloped.
I went low again. It was clear the island had plentiful electricity.
One immense villa dominated the landscape, fronting on the deepest southwest beach, with sprawling left and right wings and five stories of windows and spacious balconies. Its broad terraces led right down to the sand itself, and rooms on the lower floors of the palace had French doors and their own small courtyards, including gemlike swimming pools with low walls, and open gates to the beach.
On the west side was a giant swimming pool, sparkling with underwater light, and to the west of that deserted tennis courts.
Quite an affair, and off to the east what seemed to be a huge utility building with a restaurant attached to it. I could identify it by the open bar and the stools and the scattered tables, though not a soul was using it.
Then came the harbor, or marina, I’m sure they preferred to say, with a huge fancy white cabin cruiser at dock and many small boats tethered to the pier, and beyond it a heliport with what seemed to me to be a giant copter.
Last of all, and furthest from the villa, was the airstrip with the faded letters.
There were busy little beings visible on the island, carrying what appeared to be white crates between the cabin cruiser and the small plane.
I whispered to Mona: “Look down and use your vampiric gifts. What sort of people are these?”
“Those aren’t Taltos,” she whispered in my ear.
“You bet they’re not,” I said.
“They’re carrying automatic weapons,” she said in my ear, “they’ve got gun belts.”
“Right you are,” I said. “And knives in their boots, most likely. They’re fair game, you understand, they’re drug pirates and they’re dirty.”
Some of the men wore colored bandannas around their foreheads. All wore jeans. Racial characteristics varied. The blood scent rose in my nostrils. I was hungry for it.
“It’s a positive feast!” she said. “But how are we going to do this! And what have they done to the Taltos!”
I felt my heart tripping. I ought to have been ashamed. I was getting more heated by the second.
I took her up again, and went towards the jungle of the east coast as Maharet had cautioned me to do. The whole island wasn’t very big. One could have walked straight across it, even given the mountainous heights, in about two hours. But that is a great deal of jungle, really.
We arrived at the foot of an awesome cliff, where there was a little strip of beach, just enough for us to come together. Beautiful and boring.
I scanned the jungle around us. I picked up nothing clear. But the sheer thickness of the jungle, the sounds of all the little beasts, all this bothered me. It was a perfect hiding place, this jungle.
I scanned afar for the voices of the drug pirates. Activity of phones. Some music. I let my scan grow in power. It was all drug maneuvers. Cabin cruiser had brought in a load. The load would go out in the plane and the copter. Transfer was almost complete. A chaos of voices. Party going on in one of the rooms of the villa, maybe other rooms as well.
Mona was very shaken. “What if they’ve killed them all!” she cried. “What if they’ve taken over this island?”
“What if they’re working for the Taltos,” said Quinn. “What if this is how the Taltos support themselves?”
“I can’t believe that,” said Mona. “Besides, Ash Templeton had wealth. He didn’t need anyone to help him to acquire more of it. He wouldn’t have done this. He would have contacted Rowan and Michael had he needed help.” She was fast becoming hysterical.
“Get a grip, Mona,” I said. “The information’s five minutes away. As for Maharet’s advice, I’m overruling it. I’m going straight to the other end of the island. You can proceed through the jungle towards the back of the building if you like, but I want to enter by the front door. My blood’s too hot for