Be Careful What You Wish For

Chapter Twenty

1 "Did you know that Tijuana is the birthplace of the Caesar Salad?" Charlie said, sounding like the least enthusiastic tour guide in the history of humanity. They were driving on the Agua Caliente Boulevard, toward Las Torres, a.k.a. the Plaza Aguacaliente & Grand Hotel Tijuana. The car was an 1983 red Audi Quattro that Barbie had acquired by paying for it with cash. This, in turn, resulted from her pawning off some tacky but expensive jewellery before they crossed the border. Getting across the border itself had been a little bit tense, but after some debate, they'd decided to brazenly drive up to border control, despite having no passports. Everyone except for Nessie had thought that this was a terrible idea. Everyone except for Nessie had been thoroughly mistaken. No-one even looked at their documents. Huh. It probably would've helped if they'd actually researched border-crossing from San Diego into Mexico.

Now, Charlie was driving toward the hotel, Jacob by his side, whilst Barbie and Nessie were on the backseat. Poor Charlie. He hated this bull, as he called it. He truly hated it. He hated being forced to stick around by decree of supernatural bullies (his term, not Jacob's), he'd hated changing into civilian clothes Barbie had bought for him, he'd hated lying to the police patrol that had stopped them on the road, and he hated chauffeuring around people he thought of as monsters and murderers. The thing was, he didn't have a choice – none of them did. The only difference was that, just like Bella, Charlie seemed to be completely and utterly immune to Nessie's graceful charms. Nessie herself hadn't been too pleased, but had accepted that of course her grandpa loved and worshipped her, even if something was clearly wrong with him.

"Is that so?" Barbie replied, not even trying to mask her boredom and contempt. God, all those insults Jacob liked to fling at her aside, as a person, she was just plain awful. What an ally to be stuck with! Eugh.

"Yeah. Guy named Caesar Cardini, immigrant from Italy, came to Tijuana to escape Prohibition in the US. After Fourth of Juli, 1924, his kitchen was depleted, and he basically threw in all he had together. Voilà! Caesar Salad."

"How interesting. Please tell me more about the irrelevant inception of an insipid dish that I can't ever eat."

"Shut your trap, Barbs. Nobody cares what you think," Jacob said, yawning, and pointed at the two huge, silvery skyscrapers ahead. "We're here."

"I've always wanted to vacation in Mexico for free," Charlie said flatly, slowing the car down. "Oh, well. Let's get this over with. Maybe I'll be lucky and get eaten."

"That won't happen, Grampa," Nessie said sweetly, innocently, oblivious of his mean-spirited sarcasm. No, he didn't want to be here, but this was his granddaughter. It couldn't hurt to be a little more friendly, even if his stupid, blockheaded mind made it impossible for him to see. "I won't let them. They'll be our friends; you'll see. They'll all be our friends."

"Comforting," Charlie said, and harrumphed.

"How many of them are there? Creepula ever tell you?" Jacob glanced over his shoulder at Barbie, to see her pull a grimace of disgust.

"The last time he was here, about five years ago, he said there were at least ten. But that was five years ago," she said coldly. "Conjecturing will get us nowhere. In any case, every extra help is better than what we have now."

There was a knot in Jacob's throat. He shot a glance at Charlie, but then looked out the window at the traffic and merry crowds hurrying to and fro. This was a big city, a lively city, a cultural metropolis that was ever-growing. Now Jacob and his little party had arrived to bring death and destruction to the unsuspecting locals and tourists. Awesome. "Do you think we have time to make more? Vampires, I mean." He ignored Charlie's appalled stare.