"He's crazy," she said.

"Oh? Why?"

"He believes in vampires."

She waited for him to react, to shake his head in derision, to make a derogatory comment.

"Did you hear me? The man is nuts. I don't think he's dangerous, and he can be quite charming, but...he's crazy."

Canady still didn't say a word. "Lieutenant?"

"I see you're still wearing your cross," he said.

Her hand flew to her throat. She'd forgotten all about it.

"It's not my cross," she said.

"Well, you should keep it on anyway," he said solemnly. "It's very nice. And you won't lose it that way, will you? So do you know anything about the other guy? Jonas?"

She shook her head. "No. Only that Deanna talked to him a few times." She stared at him, once again feeling that something wasn't quite right.

"What on earth is going on here?" she demanded.

"I intend to find out," he told her. "Listen, I'm not sure you're safe where you're staying, and I don't have the manpower to look after you there."

"Why are you so worried about us?" she asked.

He was silent, looking across the room for a minute. Then he replied slowly. "I've been a cop a long time. It's just a hunch, but I think you three have been targeted by...well, by some lunatic, for lack of a better word. I know a place that's well protected." He shrugged and grinned. "One of my officers is there all the time. He's dating the manager. The owner is out of the country. I think you and your friend Heidi would be better off if you moved over there It's called Montresse House. It's right on Bourbon." He rose. "I'll have a man here watching your friend's room to make sure she's safe."

"I don't even know if they're admitting her yet," Lauren said.

"They'll be admitting her," Canady said softly.

A lump of fear rose to Lauren's throat.

"She can't be that bad. I need to take her home," she said.

"She has to get better first," he said. "Meanwhile, you two move over to Montresse House. And rest a.s.sured. I intend to get to the bottom of what's happening."

He handed her a business card, and Lauren took it from him without looking. He gave her a smile of rea.s.surance and headed for the door.

She stared after him for a moment, then looked across the room. The man with the b.l.o.o.d.y jaw was gone.

By his empty chair, she saw the day's paper.

And the headline.

Second Day-Second Corpse She froze, flesh, blood and bones.

She closed her eyes, opened them, stared at the business card in her hand.

It was the same as the card Big Jim had given Deanna the night before.7 M ark opened his eyes and groaned.

He'd been close. So d.a.m.n close.

But he hadn't expected the trap, and that had been a serious-nearly fatal-mistake on his part. But when Deanna had screamed, he had known why. Pursuit had seemed the only possible option, even though he was working alone and had known Stephan had come with an army.

What Stephan's army didn't know was that their great leader didn't give a d.a.m.n about any one of them; they were there to be sacrificed, and that was that. The more fools Stephan gathered around himself, the more fools he had to sacrifice along the way, security against his own capture or death.

It was actually a miracle, Mark thought, that he had managed to make it back.

He rolled, got out of bed and walked to the bathroom, where he stared at his face in the mirror.

He should have looked a h.e.l.l of a lot worse. But he'd never given up his weapons. No matter how many hits he had taken after being led straight into an ambush, he'd kept hold of his weapons, weapons his opponents hadn't been prepared for.

Stephan had known, of course.

But his minions had no idea that Stephan knew his enemy, and so they had died for him.

Mark looked at his face in the mirror again, d.a.m.ning himself. There was no room for mistakes.

He had to get it together.

A shower would help.

It did. Half an hour later, he was showered, shaved and dressed, and he didn't look nearly as bad as he had. He was pulling a comb through his hair when there was a knock at his door.

He opened it to find Helen, from cottage three, standing there.

"Mark, you are here," she said breathlessly.

"Yes, what's wrong?" he asked her.

"I just thought you should know, one of the girls from next door was taken to the hospital this morning."

"Deanna?" he said, feeling his heart slam inside his chest.

She frowned. "Yes, how did you know?"

"I knew she'd been feeling a little off, that's all," he lied.

"Oh," Helen said, moving on to other things. "Heidi rode in the ambulance with her, and Janice and I dropped Lauren off at the emergency room. It's been a while.... I knocked earlier, but you didn't hear me."

"I sleep pretty soundly," he told her. "But thanks for everything. I appreciate the information."

"You're welcome." She smiled. "Oh, and your newspaper." She handed him the daily paper, which was delivered to each door every morning.He saw the headline.

Second Day-Second Corpse He thanked her again, then, after closing the door, threw the newspaper across the room. A few minutes later, he stepped outside, desperate to reach the hospital as quickly as possible.

Mistake number two.

He never saw it coming; he was too concerned about Deanna and the report of the second corpse.

And his attacker was prepared.

Whatever hit him, it was like a ton of bricks against his head.

As he crashed to the ground, he thought it must have been the broad side of an axe. A big one. Like a medieval battle axe. Then he pa.s.sed out and didn't think about anything at all.

"We're moving over to this place," Lauren told Heidi.

"What?" Heidi asked, distracted.

Deanna had been given a room, but she had yet to regain consciousness. She was regaining color, though, and the doctors kept a.s.suring them that she was going to be fine, but the next twenty-four hours were critical. Her blood levels had been so low that she was close to death, but the transfusions seemed to be turning the tide, and they believed a full and perhaps even speedy recovery was not only possible but likely.

She was in a private room, with a police guard in the hall.

It should have felt safe, Lauren thought, but it didn't.

"That cop, Lieutenant Canady, said we'd be safer moving to this place," Lauren explained to Heidi.

"What is it to him, where we stay?" Heidi demanded.

Lauren took a deep breath. "He's afraid we've been targeted," she explained. "By a lunatic."

Heidi frowned.

"Maybe a lunatic who thinks he's a vampire," Lauren went on.

Heidi stared at her for a long moment in total disbelief, then started laughing. "Lauren, think about what you just said. A vampire?

You've been reading too many freaky books."

"Heidi-"

"Deanna lost a lot of blood," Heidi explained gently. "She's sick. She must have been sick when we got here, and that caused her sleepwalking. She wasn't attacked."

"Heidi, Lieutenant Canady said we should move, and I want to," Lauren said firmly. "Look, one of the lieutenant's officers is apparently always at this place, and he considers it really safe. If we are being targeted, we should move. We don't want to put anyone else-like Janice or Helen-in danger, right?" Heidi arched a brow, considering Lauren's words. "All right. Whatever you think. When do we move? I don't think we should both leave Deanna. Not now."

Lauren felt the same, but she didn't want to stay at the hospital all day, either. She decided to go back to Jackson Square later.

She was going to find Susan, the fortune-teller, and shake her until she said something that made sense.

She should tell the cops about Susan, she thought grimly. But tell them what? She didn't want the cops to think that she herself was crazy. There was nothing concrete to tell them. Best to talk to Susan first.

Lauren leaned forward. "All right, for now, you get going. Pack up our things. If you need to take a walk, shake off the hospital for a bit do it, then come back. Okay?"

"I guess," Heidi said. She looked at the bed where Deanna lay, motionless and still ashen compared to anyone who was up and walking. She rose, and touched her friend's forehead. "She's cool," she murmured. "Warm enough, though," she added quickly.

"This morning, she was like ice." She looked across the bed at Lauren. "I'm so worried about her," she said.

"So am I."

"Was this all my fault somehow?" Heidi asked.

"No. Definitely not," Lauren a.s.sured her. "And she's going to be fine. That's what all the doctors have said."

Heidi stared across the room. "That's what they said about my dad, too. Right before he died of a second heart attack." She looked worriedly at Lauren. "I don't want to leave her right now. You go, okay?"

"Okay. I'll be as quick as possible," Lauren a.s.sured her.

Heidi offered her a weak smile. "Hey, both of us sitting around here doesn't make much sense. I'll get out later. And this way you have to do all the work of packing us up." She smiled weakly.

"No problem. See you soon." Lauren smiled back, then left.

Mark came to slowly but didn't open his eyes. He tried to feel his surroundings first.

He was sitting up. Tied to a chair, wrists bound tightly behind his back.

He was not at a police station.

The temperature was pleasant, thanks to air-conditioning.

There was no noise, but someone was in the room with him; he could feel it. It wasn't Stephan, though. It wasn't a vampire at all.

His head was pounding.

He inhaled and exhaled, trying to ease the pain.

"You hit him too hard," someone whispered. The voice was feminine, soft. Concerned.

"I needed him unconscious."

He almost jerked up, giving away the fact that he was conscious. He knew the voice. Lieutenant Sean Canady.He went on listening, trying to ascertain just where he was.

"Sean, you could have killed him."

"Maggie, quit worrying. This guy is pretty tough."

"You don't even know that he's guilty of anything."

"I do know that he knows what's going on around here."

He listened, trying to determine if there was anyone else in the room. But after several seconds of concentrating on his senses, he was certain no one else was with them.