"No, sir," she said, her voice irritating because it was so d.a.m.ned perky. "He left a while ago and hasn't returned. Do you want me to go to his office?"

"That's the least that you can do considering that I'm asking for his whereabouts."

The girl paused then, less perky, and said, "I'll let you know what I find out."

Lamont pushed himself deeper into his plush chair as he laid his head back. Idiots, he was surrounded by idiots!

Moments later, the girl buzzed Lamont. "Well?" he barked.

Again, she paused, then said, "He's gone. And so am I. This job, I don't need."

Lamont tried to buzz her again several times after she left the intercom but she never answered. No one understood the importance of his mission, that he was trying to protect the world from creatures too powerful to reign uncontrolled. That the only way he could accomplish this was to become as powerful. He would have to succeed without those with small minds and limited visions. The man he thought he had been grooming in Claude, he had been mistaken.

If he failed, as it looked like he was going to do, if the vampires ended him, there was one contingency plan he prayed would work.

Donovan. He had to contact Donovan and let him know that it was all up to him now. Donovan had never believed, but he had to now. Lamont would send him the research, then Donovan would know that the vampires were real, and he would pick up the baton.

Lamont picked up the phone.

IN L.A.

Mal left the station, on the Captain's orders, to return to Hawaii. He'd called Kai, and Kai had promised he would come for Mal and make her return to Molokai for her own safety. After a heated discussion, Mal had conceded, and told the Captain she would go back to her apartment, pack her bag, and wait for her father to come for her.

Except that she'd stopped at her desk, downloaded the files that Cynthia had given her from Berenstein, and booked the f.u.c.k out of there. There wasn't a chance she was going to blow this opportunity to stop Canzone.

Leaving the police station, she travelled north and headed to a dive hotel to go through the material, find Canzone, contact him, have him meet her, kill him, and go away somewhere warm and safe to make a home for herself and her baby.

When things calmed down, when it was safe to do so, she would contact Kai and let him know where they were.

That was the real plan. She appreciated Kordalis's concern, but some things had to be done, the risk be d.a.m.ned.

As she merged onto the highway, she watched carefully to make sure she hadn't picked up a tail, but nothing was following her.

Thirty minutes later, she guided her car into a sleazy-looking motel off of the highway, and carried her small pack into the office to register for a one night stay.

After she opened the door to the room that had been redecorated as recently as 1975, and smelled as if that was also the last year it had been cleaned properly, she turned to lock the door when it was slammed open.

The edge of the door caught her sharply on the forehead, sparkles of pretty gold lights shot through her vision and she backed away, reaching for her gun.

Her vision cleared just in time to see a man she did not know fire a pistol at her, point blank, and the gold lights gave way to the total blackness of unconsciousness. Her last thought was regret that the lights were gone, and so was she.

Cheeto reached for his cell phone and couldn't find it.

"Where the h.e.l.l is that thing?" he asked himself, fishing through all ten pockets in his pants and lightweight jacket. What the f.u.c.k had happened to it? He couldn't find the thing, at a time he needed it most. He had the girl and he needed to contact Claude immediately. No matter how many times he checked his pockets, it didn't materialize.

A light went off in his head. Just use the laptop. He stepped over the woman lying broken and bleeding on the floor and set up the laptop, dialed in Claude's number and used a face-to-face program to contact him.

When Claude's face appeared, he seemed calm.

"Sir, I have her," he blurted out, loud and proud.

"You do? I didn't think there was a chance in...forget it. Good work. Set her up like I told you and keep the camera running."

"I had to shoot her, sir. She's out and she's bleeding badly. I don't think she's going to live."

"It doesn't matter, as long as you can prop her into a chair, and make her appear to be only unconscious."

"Yes, sir. Right away."

"Cheeto, if we pull this off, I'll bring you to Europe. Now listen, this is the most important part of this. Whatever you do, do not tell me where you are. If the vampire compels me, I won't be able to reveal your location so he can't save her. Again, do not tell me where she is, even if I ask. Understand?"

"Sure, Boss."

"All right, then. I'm counting on you to get this right, and when you do, when this is over, I'll see you in London."

As he rung off, Cheeto skipped over to the woman crumpled on the floor, her precious blood still seeping from several wounds.

He did hate that. If there had been a way to get her without hurting her, he would have preferred it, but she was an L.A. cop, which would be difficult to subdue no matter what. And in this case, he not only didn't have any back-up, he didn't have any time. She'd reached for her gun and it had just come down to him or her.

Lifting her into his arms, he placed her on one of the hotel's desk chairs and went to his car to get the rope.

When he came back into the room, she'd slipped off the chair and lay awkwardly on the nasty carpeted floor. He lifted her again and quickly used the ropes to tie her hands behind the chair, tie her legs, and for good measure, another around her neck and tied to the wall behind the chair. Her head dropped forward, but it would have, even if she hadn't been dying. It helped to hide the rope.

The vampire would buy this, Cheeto knew he would. Then he could go to London on a private jet tonight because he'd shown he was a force to be reckoned with.

Turning back to his mission, he looked over the girl carefully, no sign of her injury visible. She hadn't responded in any way as he placed her on the chair and tied her down. Moving closer, he put his ear to her lips.

Had she died?

Yeah, there was no breath. He put his hand on her chest to see if there was a heartbeat, but it was still. How sad. Pushing her hair from her face, he realized how pretty she was, slumped there with her shirt ripped, her hair wild, her arms and legs lifeless. He thought what a shame it was, as regret suddenly struck him out of nowhere.

He had taken this beautiful woman's life. He'd destroyed her. The sadness invaded his mind and he could barely function when the laptop chirped and he heard Claude's voice.

"Just do it," Cheeto whispered to himself. "Just finish this."

"Claude. She's ready. Um, she's dead." Was Cheeto's response when Claude's image looked back at him from his camera on his tablet computer.

"Hum. Well, nothing to be done about that now. She's propped though, as if she's just unconscious?"

"Yes, sir."

"Send me the feed. Stay out of camera range when he gets here in a few minutes, and make sure nothing in the image tells where you are."

"Already done, sir."

"Good. Remember, you are not to reveal your location, no matter what I ask or say. I'll contact you when it's done."

Cheeto sat on the bed after Claude ended the call and just stared at his big career break. He'd ended a woman's life so that he could get a promotion. What was wrong with him that he would do something like that?

Going to his knees on the carpet in front of her, he touched her on the arm and an overwhelming sense of sorrow infused him so deeply, he began to cry.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he said, and repeated himself.

He fell forward and rested his head on her lap.

He didn't know that, although the woman he held was dead, a tiny life stirred inside and touched him as he sprawled on the floor and wondered how he could fix this.

IN LONDON.

Taggert grinned. "I've made friends with nearly every security officer in the facility. We'll pa.s.s without problem until Claude or Lamont sees us. By then, it will be too late for them to stop us. So all we have to worry about are the security forces a.s.signed to Lamont. Claude doesn't have any on him. Also, and you're going to like this, you don't have to worry about the vampire serum that renders you unconscious. I haven't just stood around here for weeks with my thumbs up my a.s.s."

Eillia tilted her head. "And where have those thumbs been, then?"

"Dabbling in the ordnance supplies. Those tubes filled with the serum? They now have apple jelly in them."

Koen smiled. "Apple jelly?"

"Closest I could find to the pale amber color of the serum. The most it'll do is give you elevated sugar levels. No one guards the stock room, go figure."

Koen landed a heavy hand on Taggert's shoulder, and admired the fact that he took the weight well. "Taggert, you've been indispensable. You have a job with me for the rest of your life, if you'd like it."

In response, Taggert just nodded, and led them through the main entrance of the building.

"This facility has four floors above ground, three below. Right now, there are only ten supernatural subjects held on sub-level two. None are vampire, although one of them, yeah, no one seems to know what he is. Either way, we'll spring them before we close this place down. Lamont's office is on this level, and although video surveillance covers nearly every inch of this place, unless someone has a reason to, no one disturbs him with details. We should pa.s.s unnoticed until we get to him. If he's here, anyway."

"Let's pray." Eillia was beyond ready to get back to their carefree lives.

Although limited by Taggert's human pace, they traveled quickly through the corridors to the back of the building where Lamont had his offices.

Finishing up another bottle of wine, Lamont pushed away from his desk, as he waited for the vampires to come. He needed another bottle of wine.

As he stood, he saw his door open again, and a fuzzy Claude came back through it.

"I thought you were gone, a.s.shole." he yelled to Claude.

"Sit the f.u.c.k down before you fall down, you old goat. They're coming soon, but I finally have the computer image of his girlfriend."

Claude pushed his laptop onto Lamont's desk and turned it to face the doorway.

"When they come, I'll do all of the talking."

Lamont did not like this turn of events...Claude, telling him what to do. Then again, it was what he'd hired him to do, to handle things.

"Certainly. You're sure this will do it?"

"No. I'm sure this is our only chance. If the vampire has no attachment to the female, if he doesn't care about her fate, then we're f.u.c.ked anyway. G.o.d, Lamont, sit down before you fall down."

"I've only had two bottles of wine."

"In fifteen minutes. You're standing still and you're weaving. It's sick. Sit the f.u.c.k down."

Lamont prepared to blast Claude, but it seemed like too much trouble. He dropped back into his chair, which spun around some and made him feel even dizzier.

"Don't let the vampires eat me, Claude," he said, sleepily.

Claude glared at him. What the f.u.c.k was going on? Lamont had to be on something else, because he was punch-drunk, and the wine wouldn't have done that to him with his current const.i.tution.

"I'm on my own with these motherf.u.c.kers," Claude mumbled out loud and watched the camera monitor on Lamont's desk. Moments later, he saw them, coming down the hallways before they arrived at this heavily guarded and locked section of the building. They'd be through in moments.

"Show time," he announced, out loud.

"Here," Taggert said, after his companions disabled the security protocols on a metal door that protected this hidden part of the building and helped the staff go to sleep.

"This is Lamont's office area. Behind this door, there will be at least 8 to 10 armed guards. They'll be firing bullets and the useless serum."

"Step back," Eillia told him and Taggert complied.

Koen, Ahmose, and Xavier entered, with David and Eillia behind.

Taggert listened as repeated gunfire erupted, and almost as quickly, silenced. He waited a few more seconds, then stuck his head through the doorway, and walked on in when he saw all of the guards immobilized, frozen. Koen was holding his left bicep, and Ahmose was bleeding from his right leg, but he knew the injuries were minor for the huge vampires.

"The next room is the money-shot. That's where Lamont is if he's here."

Eillia nodded and pushed the door in. The five men were right behind her, stopping just inside, as Eillia perused the room. Claude sat on top of a huge cherry office desk and Lamont lounged behind it.

"Wow, you really are full of yourself," Eillia said, aware that both men had to know they were going to kill them and yet they sat there as if they wore signs that said Go ahead.

Koen had already speeded forward and had Lamont's neck in his hand.

"Do it," Lamont squeaked out. "Drink your fill."

Koen laughed, anger barely concealed. "As if I'd drink your filthy blood. No, you'll die intact with every ounce of the corrupted s.h.i.t in your veins."

Claude hadn't moved. He sat on the desktop, his legs swinging, and grinned. He looked directly at Ahmose suddenly. "My guy tried to end you in California. I guess he didn't get a chance to finish the job."

"It was you who ordered him to kill me. Good information. It makes killing you now much easier."

"Yeah, well, you might want to look at this computer screen first." His fingers tapped against the laptop displayed on the desk.

Claude nodded, pursing his lips, and flippantly turned the screen towards Ahmose and the rest of the vampire group. "Just look."

Ahmose had had very little experience with humans outside of his village, and this arrogant one who made demands on first blood vampires surprised and upset him.

"This one is mine," he told his companions.

Claude smiled as if someone gave him an ice cream cone on a hot day, and pushed the play b.u.t.ton.

The dark screen came up, and the vampires watching saw the pretty young woman tied to a chair. They did not know her. What was Claude up to with this?