"Because it's something you need to know before you face the were again. There is one way the toxin is introduced and one way only. Through the bite of a werewolf."

I'd moved to the deck outside my bedroom, watching a cold December morning break over the water. Frey's words echo in my head, triggering two different emotions as the implication of what he's telling me becomes clear. The first is anger. Much of my adjustment to life as a vampire has been forged on the anvil of anger. Its burn is familiar, almost rea.s.suring. I've grown used to it.

But the second emotion, disappointment, is far more devastating. That Frey would withhold something this important is incomprehensible. When I try to speak, the sense of betrayal rises in my throat and words won't come.

"Anna?" Frey's voice is gentle, prodding.

My impulse is to hang up. Instead, I swallow hard and manage to say, "Why didn't you tell me this before? When you gave me the book, for instance?"

A pause. "You told me you had business with a were. I thought if you read the book, you'd rethink doing any kind of business with a were. You didn't say it was personal. You didn't say it was a were with a vendetta. I should have told you. I'm sorry."

A comforting tide of rising anger swamps betrayal. "You should have told me? A werewolf bite is deadly to a vampire. Why the f.u.c.k isn't that in your books?"

"It's a rather new development," he says, retreating into a professorial tone from the guilt laden. "The pathology only showed up in the last hundred years or so. The book was written in the fifteen hundreds."

"Does Williams know about this toxin?"

A hesitation. "I don't know."

The hesitation gives it away. "A vampire as old as Williams? What are the odds he doesn't know?"

Frey doesn't let himself get drawn in. He must sense where I'm going with this because he adds, "I can't believe Williams would ever deliberately put you in danger. Anything he's done, he's done with your best interest at heart."

Best interest? As a human or a vampire? I can think of several things he's done that were definitely not in the human Anna's best interest. Because of it, and because of his arrogance, I'm not convinced Williams has a heart.

I'm not convinced Frey is telling the truth, either.

I hear Frye's quiet breathing on the other end of the line. I've made him uncomfortable, questioning Williams' motives in keeping me in the dark. Not that it matters. My path is clear.

"Are all weres infected?"

"I don't know for sure," Frey answers. He sounds relieved that I've changed the subject. "It's best to a.s.sume they are. The only accounts we have are of deaths that have occurred. There are none of vampires surviving a bite."

Great. "Is there anything else you've neglected to tell me?"

"Just be careful, Anna. I wish you could walk away from the were but if what you suspect is true, if Avery has taken over Sandra's body and mind, I know that's not possible. He would have killed David to sever the bond between you. He is as powerful and vengeful now as he was then. Who knows who he will target this time to get back at you."

CHAPTER 55.

AFTER I HANG UP, IT TAKES A MINUTE TO GALVA-NIZE myself into action. The resentment I feel, toward Frey for not simply telling me everything when I was at his house instead of giving me that d.a.m.ned book and toward Williams for letting me blunder off to meet Sandra without a warning, takes some swallowing. I want to call Williams, confront him because I will never believe he didn't know about the toxin. The question is why he wouldn't tell me about it. He's always looking for ways to draw me into the fold. Or to scare me.

I trudge upstairs and into the shower, head still spinning with possibilities.

There could be other reasons he might not tell me.

One terrible reason. Frey asked a very important question: if it is Avery, who else might he target to get back at me? He already went after David. Would my family be next? Might Williams let that happen? Might he see that as a way to sever the last links I have with humanity? Or might it be that Williams is sick of our sparring and wants to be rid of me once and for all? Let me tangle with the were, get bitten, and watch me die. Either way, his problem is solved. We began as enemies; maybe we've come full circle.

By the time the front doorbell rings, promptly at nine, I've showered, changed, but am far from ready. I'm sick with the implications of Williams' treachery and know I have to confront him. But right now, I open the door to find David talking on his cell, a stupid grin on his face. He rings off and slips the phone into his jacket.

"Tamara," he says, though I didn't ask. "We've moved our date up to four. Going back to the cabin. I'm going to cook her dinner."

"Four? That's pretty early. I do have things to do today, you know." He looks down at me. "You said you'd stay with Gloria. You owe me this, remember?"

s.h.i.t. I grab my jacket and purse from the back of the couch. I do owe him. My timetable got moved up: Call Jason, see my dad, find that d.a.m.ned talisman without being attacked and bitten by a werewolf. Go after Williams. All in time to make sure Sandra and her crew are out of town before 4:00 p.m.

b.l.o.o.d.y piece of cake.

CHAPTER 56.

CHARMER'S BODY SHOP IS IN A STRIP MALL RIGHT off the South Bay Freeway in Chula Vista. At first, the inconspicuous location and modest look of the place makes me wonder if I was wise in trusting my car to a local instead of taking it to the dealership. Once inside the big prefab building, however, my misgivings are put to rest. Workers in spotless white jumpsuits swarm over a Ferrari, a Mercedes, a vintage Corvette and my Jag. It's already up on risers, the prep work for the new paint job under way.

Charmer smiles a greeting and jabs a thumb toward the car. "Forgot to ask you last night. Same color? We can change it if you'd like."

I shake my head, unable to drag my eyes off the damage that was done to my car. It looks even worse under the harsh glare of overhead lights. "No. The original British Racing Green."

He nods his approval and leads us out of the building to the back. He hands me the keys to the loaner. The candy-apple red Mustang sparkles under the overcast sky like a jewel. Seeing it lifts my spirits.

"Sure you don't want to take the Hummer?" David asks in a wistful voice.

I s.n.a.t.c.h the keys from Charmer before David can. "No. Thanks." I look up at Charmer. "You sure it's all right for me to take this?

It's such a beautiful car."

"You're not going to let it get trashed, too, are you?" His face is serious, but his tone is not. He grins. "Of course. Have fun with it."

The Mustang engine growls to life when I turn the ignition. David still has that little-boy look of yearning on his face when I pull out.

I wave to them both, then double-clutch it when I hit the road. The Mustang responds like a race car. I feel like Steve McQueen.

At least one thing will be fun today.

I head back downtown to the office to call Jason.

When I pull into my office parking s.p.a.ce, I notice a car parked in David's. It's one of those hybrid models, painted a dull pastel green. Looks anemic beside the Mustang. I don't recognize it. David won't be happy, especially since both our s.p.a.ces are clearly marked "reserved." He can take care of it. I need to get in and out.

The keys are in my hand and I'm right at the door when someone steps out from the bay side of the building.

"Jason?"

He looks tired and scared, and I open the door and motion him inside.

"What's the matter?"

The kid stares down at his shoes and I realize he's wearing the same clothes he had on when I saw him at his house yesterday. I point to a chair. "Sit. I'll make coffee." I get it going and check out the small, under-the-counter refrigerator we keep in the office.

"There's not much here, but there are some day-old bagels. Are you hungry?"

He still hasn't said a word. I go ahead and pull out the bag and a carton of cream cheese. Having a human partner who eats real food has come in handy twice now in the last twenty-four hours. Thank you, David.

I don't press Jason until he's eaten half a bagel and had a few swallows of coffee. Then I sit down opposite him. "What happened to you?"

Jason finally meets my eyes. "I didn't tell you everything," he says.

"About?"

"My stepmother. Gloria. What I overheard the day my dad was killed."

"Want to tell me the truth now?"

He nods, starts fiddling with the coffee cup.

"Tell me."

"I did overhear my dad and Laura the morning he was killed," he says. "It wasn't about any kind of criminal investigation. He was arguing with her about something he'd done to a colleague. I don't know the details. It didn't make sense then. Whatever he did cost somebody a lot of money, and Dad thought the guy was coming after him. He sounded scared. He wanted us to leave. Laura said she wouldn't go. She ran out, and Dad ran after her."

"What happened then?"

"I went into his study. I found something."

He dips a hand into his pocket and pulls out an envelope. I recognize it as the one I found in his room. He offers it to me, and I take it.

While I open it, he says, "I didn't know what it meant until I saw the newspaper yesterday." My own paper is open on the desk where I left it after getting Dad's call. He taps the article about his father. "I think they were right. I think Dad took the formula and sold it. I think somebody at that Benton company killed him."

CHAPTER 57.

"SO WHY THE LIES, JASON?".

He frowns bitterly. "I hate Laura. She doesn't even try to be nice. When she moved in, the first thing she did was go through the house and throw away anything that belonged to my mother. Do you know what she said to me last night? She said the best thing my dad could have done for us was to die. That it saved us a lot of trouble."

He wipes a hand across his eyes. "She didn't know about the lawsuit or what Dad had done. She didn't really care who killed him, she just wanted to make Gloria look guilty."

"So, you know for sure that she found out about Gloria and your father?"

"She must have. My dad told her someone was after him. She lied to the police anyway."

"And the gun, did you plant that so I'd find it?"

"Yeah. I figured you'd found it when I checked last night and it was gone. I kept waiting for the police to show up."

"Where did you get it?"

"It's Laura's. She keeps it in the glove compartment of her car."

"Which you saw when you were out shopping with her. You've known all along it wasn't the murder weapon." Only a kid's logic would make moving it and planting it in so obvious a place seem a reasonable thing to do.

Jason is quiet for a moment. "What's going to happen now?"

"Good question. Gloria's lawyer is attempting to get a search warrant as we speak. It will take the police about five minutes to prove it wasn't the murder weapon." I lean back in my chair, eyeing him. "Why didn't you go home last night?"

He looks at me as if I've performed a magic trick.

"I saw you yesterday. You came home before I could leave. You were wearing the same clothes you're wearing now."

"But I never saw you."

"You weren't supposed to. Now answer my question."

His features contort with an expression that's half panic, half anger. "Laura heard me talking to Gloria last night. She knows I planted the gun. She threw me out of the house."

"Where did you spend the night?"

"Here. I got the address from your card. I didn't know where else to go, and I thought I should talk to you this morning."

"How did you get here? It's a d.a.m.n long walk from Fairbanks Ranch."

He reaches into his jeans and pulls out a set of car keys.

"You drove? Jason, you're fourteen. Where did you get the car?"

He mumbles something I don't quite catch. The key chain's logo matches the hybrid in David's parking s.p.a.ce. "You didn't steal a car, did you?"

He shakes his head. "No. It was my dad's. I've been driving since I was twelve. Learned on our ranch in Wyoming. We have so many cars, I doubt anyone will even notice it's gone."

I stand up, grab both sets of keys, his and mine, and motion for him to join me. "Come on. We'll worry about returning the car later. Right now we're going to see Gloria's lawyer and you're going to tell her what you told me. After, we'll get you home. I'm pretty sure Laura can't keep you out. She's committed a crime by deliberately lying to the police. If anyone will be spending the night away from home tonight, it's likely to be her."

There is one other thing.

"How involved are you in Gloria's suicide attempt?"

A half shrug. "I only bought the pills and made the nine-one-one call. She made me leave before she started taking them."