by Parker Blue
Well, they deserved to know the truth, but I wouldn’t have put it so bluntly. I had to admit that Dan’s version saved time, though. I slid back into the car and closed the door, hoping for a quick getaway. Dan got back in the car, too, having made his point.
Mom looked taken aback, but recovered quickly. “I should have known. It’s all Val’s fault—if she hadn’t been hunting vampires, Jen wouldn’t know about them to begin with.”
Mom’s face crumpled in distress, but I couldn’t feel sorry for her, not with her blaming her demon daughter for every problem in the family.
I rolled my eyes. “Get a clue, Sharon. You run a freakin’ new age bookstore fergawdsake.”
Rick, looking stone-faced, butted in to ask Jen, “Where have you been going? Who have you been seeing?”
Like he could do anything about it. I grimaced. “Never mind. I’ll take care of it.” Then to my little sister, I said, “Don’t tell him. He’ll just do something stupid and get himself killed.”
“I don’t care,” Rick said. “She’s my daughter and it’s my responsibility to—”
Dan butted in. “It’s your responsibility to stay alive to take care of her,” he said. “The rest is for us to do. I’m with the Special Crimes Unit of the San Antonio Police Department, and Val is now my partner. This is our job. This is what we’re trained for. Let us handle it.”
Mom did nothing but cry as Rick stood there, his fists clenched. “You can’t expect me to stand by and do nothing when my daughter is out there in danger.”
Yeah, their true colors were showing now. They didn’t give a flick about what happened to me. Only their precious normal daughter. His real daughter. But I had no tears now, just anger.
I couldn’t trust myself to speak, though. Luckily, Dan did it for me. “If you try something on your own, if you’re stupid enough to jeopardize this investigation, we’ll have you arrested for obstruction of justice and thrown in jail. Have you got that?”
Fang yipped. GO, DAN!
Rick and Mom stared at us both, stunned.
Yeah, they got it all right. I just hoped it stuck. “Let’s get out of here,” I muttered to Dan.
“Gladly.” He started the car and peeled out, leaving them all gaping after us.
“Thanks,” I said softly.
“No problem. That’ll teach them to mess with the Slayer.”
Fang chuckled, but I didn’t think it was so funny. As my gut twisted in a knot, I wondered if I’d destroyed all chance of ever having a normal relationship with my family again.
It didn’t matter. They might not care about me anymore, but I still cared about them. Only one thing was paramount now—finding out exactly which blood bank Jennifer had been going to and making sure she never went there again.
CHAPTER EIGHT
It was almost time to go to work. Ramirez texted us on Dan’s phone and asked us to check in. Though we could pretty much set our own hours so long as we produced results, we still tried to stay with night shift hours as much as possible. And, of course, give Ramirez a progress report every once in awhile.
Dan drove to the SCU headquarters and we found Ramirez in his office. The lieutenant waved us to the rickety seats and said, “So tell me what the hell happened last night. I hear you found the vein of vampires and caused a riot.”
Dan and I exchanged a look of surprise, but then I realized some of the other scuzzies must have been at the rally last night. “We didn’t cause a riot,” I protested.
Ramirez let out a bark of laughter, but didn’t sound amused in the least. “What do you call it, when twenty or thirty vampires have a rumble and trash a public place?”
“Fangbangers just wan-na have fun?” I asked.
Fang nudged my leg. OOH, GOOD ONE.
But Ramirez wasn’t amused. “Don’t be cute,” he snapped. “Luckily, the vampires themselves must be helping the reporters forget, or there would be widespread panic by now.” He scowled at me. “I hear you’ve been touting yourself as a badass vampire slayer, and that’s what set them off. What the hell were you thinking?”
I squirmed a little. “That wasn’t my doing. It was my sister’s.”
“Your sister? What the hell does she have to do with it?”
“You see, Jennifer has this dumb idea that she can help me, so she joined the Movement to find out as much as she can, but she used my reputation to keep herself safe while she’s doing it.” I paused, adding, “She’s only sixteen.”
Ramirez buried his face in his hands for a moment, apparently trying to control himself. Finally, he raised his head and asked, “Your little sister is involved in this investigation?”
“Not really—I told her to lay off. She’s probably grounded for the rest of her life by now.”
“You really think that will stop her?”
I hoped so.
Ramirez turned to Dan. “And you. I hear one of the vamps was named Lily. I only know one Lily, and she disappeared on you.”
Dan’s face tightened. “Yes, I found her, but that was uncalled for.”
Ramirez shook his head, looking weary. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Sorry you found her, sorry that she was turned, and even sorrier that I’m going to have to pull you both from the investigation.”
“What?” Dan and I exclaimed in unison.
“What did you think was gonna happen when you got personally involved?”
“We didn’t get them involved,” I protested. “They did that on their own. We had nothing to do with it.”
“It doesn’t matter how it happened,” Ramirez said. “The fact is, they have now become a part of the investigation.”
“You question our objectivity?” Dan’s voice was quiet but part of me was tuned into him in a more intimate way since last night. I could feel anger pulsing just below the surface.
“Damned right I’m worried about your objectivity. Your emotions are involved now, and when emotions are involved, reason goes out the window.”
“Not mine,” Dan said. “Not Val’s.”
“You mean to tell me that you’re not gonna let the fact that your ex is part of the group you’re investigating influence you? That putting Val’s sister in danger isn’t a factor?”
Dan visibly reined in his anger. “Of course it affects us. How could it not? But it just means we’ll work harder to make sure this new movement doesn’t endanger the city or anyone else’s family.” When Ramirez didn’t look convinced, he added, “We’re going to investigate this organization one way or another. We have to. So we might as well help you while we’re at it.”
Ramirez ran a hand over his face, looking tired. “We’re so short-handed, I can’t afford to put anyone else on this. But there is one thing I’d really like to know.”
“What’s that?”
“Is it true you rescued the leader of this vampire movement?”
Fang chortled silently. YEAH, THAT WOULD STICK IN MY CRAW, TOO.
It did look kind of bad. I had to explain. “Yeah, and now he owes us a favor. The other vamps blamed Alejandro for me being there, for putting them all in danger. I couldn’t leave him to be torn apart, not when it was my fault he was in trouble. Besides, we need him alive to find out what they’re up to.”
“So you did cause the riot,” Ramirez said flatly.
“Not intentionally,” Dan protested. “We had no way of knowing her sister had primed that particular pump to explode. Besides, their leader is intrigued with Val. Not only did she save him, but she’s immune to his power. Her mental block is solid. That seems to fascinate him and they have already developed a rapport.”
Wow—he was sticking up for me. I decided I liked having a partner.
“A rapport? Is that true?” the lieutenant asked me.
“I don’t know about that,” I protested. “But he was trying awfully hard to convince me his movement is all sweetness and light.”
Ramirez sighed. “Okay, tell me about it.”
We explained how the New Blood Mo
vement was proposing to have vampires live in harmony with humans, to donate blood so they wouldn’t have to hunt and feed.
Ramirez looked incredulous. “And you believe this crap?”
I shrugged. “He said that the people who become vampires aren’t really evil—they just become more of what they were when they were human. According to him, bad people become bad vampires. Good people become good vampires.”
The lieutenant looked thoughtful. “You buy that?”
“I don’t know,” I said. I tried to be objective. “It’s possible that the independent ones we’ve run into on the streets are all the bad ones, and the good ones have banded quietly together under Alejandro. After all, he did make a point of saving all the humans before the riot started last night.”
“Yet the riot did start,” Ramirez pointed out. “In your estimation, is this movement a danger to the city?”
“Not right now,” I said. “Alejandro’s trying hard to convince us he’s harmless, what with these blood banks around the city and the rally and publicity. He’s risked a lot to out himself. Why would he endanger that?” When neither man responded, I continued, “So far, he seems to be targeting kids, Goths, misfits. He hasn’t gone for the mainstream yet. I think he means what he says.” Not that I wanted my sister involved in any of that.
Dan didn’t look convinced. “That’s how drug dealers start, too. They go for the kids with no support system or people who won’t look too closely at the hand offering help or a high.”
Ramirez’s gaze swiveled to regard Dan. “You have a different opinion?”
“Let’s just say I’m not convinced yet. I don’t trust Alejandro. He’s too smooth, too polished. He may be using this movement as a front for something else.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know, but I plan to find out.”
“Okay,” Ramirez said, though he didn’t look happy about it. “See what you can find out—with a minimum of damage to any innocent bystanders, please—and let me know what you learn. We need to get this locked down and settled.”
“You seem remarkably well-informed for someone who doesn’t work the streets,” Dan said. “Who’s your informant? Maybe he can help us.”
“Informant? I had another SCU operative at the rally.”
Dan nodded as if he’d expected that response, too, but didn’t quite believe it. “And for the other info you’ve gathered?” he asked quietly.
I glanced at Dan in surprise. Good point. Where did the lieutenant get the info he’d been feeding us?
Ramirez frowned. “We occasionally get tips—anonymous ones from one particular source. But the information always checks out. Don’t worry, I’ll let you know everything I learn, too.” He paused, then added, “But if it looks like your personal lives are affecting your work, I’m taking you off, you hear?”
“We hear,” Dan assured him. Obviously dismissed, he took me by the arm and practically shoved me out of the office.
“Whew,” I said, peering around to look at my backside. “My butt has a few teeth marks, but I think it’s still there.”
Fang laughed and so did Dan. “You think that was an ass-chewing? That was mild compared to some of the inquisitions I’ve sat through. We were lucky.” He grabbed the keys to the truck. “Why don’t we check out the blood bank?”
“Sure. Sounds like loads of fun.”
He smiled then, looking all hot and sexy, and all of a sudden, the memory of last night, the memory I’d been suppressing all day, came back to me in full IMAX 3D.
My body reacted with a surge of need so strong, it left me weak in the knees, with all kinds of strange feelings I really didn’t want to have. Not right now. Not with my partner.
Fang shoved my leg. GET A GRIP.
I’m trying to. I plastered myself against the door, as far away as I could get from him, and forcibly controlled Lola’s reaction. If it was a choice between repeating last night’s near kiss or kicking vampire butt, I’d feel safer in the middle of a fangbanger brawl.
“You okay?” Dan asked curiously.
No. That memory had blindsided me, releasing Lola without even a three-minute warning. But I couldn’t tell him that. “Fine. I was just thinking that I, uh, didn’t think to bring enough stakes.” There was nothing like stabbing a cold, sharp implement into an undead body to keep the lust demon at bay.
“No problem. We have everything we need in the back seat.”
I sighed. “Okay, let’s go.” Just where was a bloodsucking fiend when you needed one?
I put a lid on Lola as Dan drove to the blood bank on the south side. The renovated hotel where it was housed was brightly lit, an inviting oasis in the midst of a bleak neighborhood that appeared furtive and sordid after the sun went down.
I could understand why people in the area would gravitate toward the blood bank, but wondered how many actually stayed once they figured out its purpose.
He parked the truck as close as he could, though it was a couple of blocks away, and loaded himself up with silver jewelry and concealed stakes as I stuck a few in my back waistband. Sure, the Movement preached tolerance and compassion, but you could never be too careful.
“Ready?” he asked.
“I guess. You have a plan?”
“Try to find out as much as we can.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Fang looked up at us eagerly. YEAH. LET’S GET SOME ANSWERS.
We entered the lobby area and, now that the lights were on, I could see it was as freshly renovated as the outside, kind of like a doctor’s office, but done in warm brown and burgundy, with comfy chairs and dark wooden furniture. The waiting area looked about three-quarters full. At one end, a perky cheerleader type about Jen’s age was trying to convince a man to accept a cup of juice.
He was about thirty-five—a mechanic if his blue work shirt and oval name tag were any indication—and had a weird satisfied look on his face, with fresh fang marks on his neck and a wet spot on his fly.
Ew. Gross.
GIVE YA THREE GUESSES AS TO WHAT HE’S BEEN DOING.
I didn’t have to guess—I knew.
“Please, Mr. Johnson,” the girl said. “You can’t leave yet. You need to sit down and have some juice and cookies. The rules say you have to wait for at least half an hour after donating blood.”
“So that’s what they call it these days,” Dan said for my ears only. “I wonder if Vice knows about this place. He looks like he’s strung out on something.”
Yeah. The seductive lure of the vampire’s bite was a drug many would be unable to resist. Was Dan remembering what Charlene had done to him?
When Johnson tried to stagger away, the girl stomped her foot and said petulantly, “If you don’t sit down now, you won’t be allowed to come back.”
That seemed to penetrate his sex-induced haze. “Not shee Lily again?” he slurred, then took the cup and abruptly collapsed into a chair.
Dan muttered something incoherent, and I wondered how he felt now that he’d learned Lily was not only a vampire, but obviously racking up a string of pseudo-boyfriends.
Fang sighed. NOT GOOD, BABE. NOT GOOD.
The cheerleader-type girl hurried back to the reception desk, and we stood in line behind a man who was waiting there. The name plate at the desk read Brittany.
Brittany gave the man in front of us an exasperated look. “Now, Mr. Archuleta, you know it’s only been a week since you donated. You have to wait at least a month between donations.”
I exchanged a disbelieving glance with Dan. They had standards? Maybe they weren’t the pushers we thought after all.
After a few minutes of unsuccessful wheedling, the man left, disappointed.
“Hello,” Brittany greeted Dan cheerfully. “Welcome to the blood bank. Which type of donation would you like to make?”
“None,” Dan said with obvious revulsion.
Had to agree there. How could anyone watch their lifeblood flow into a plastic bag, knowing it was g
oing to end up as someone’s dinner?
I interrupted. “Do you know Jennifer Anderson?” I showed Brittany a picture of my sister.
“No, who’s she?” The girl looked genuinely puzzled.
Well, crap. I guess this wasn’t the right blood bank.
Dan said, “We’d like to see Alejandro. He said he’d be here tonight.”
Good idea—get the info direct from the man in charge.
Her cheerful demeanor didn’t waver. “I’m sorry, but Alejandro isn’t seeing any more clients this evening.”
“We’re not clients. We’re with the police.” Dan flashed his badge. “And he invited us. Dan Sullivan and . . . Buffy.”
Huh? Why was he calling me that? Oh yeah, that’s the name I’d given Alejandro last night and, without asking why I didn’t want my name known, Dan was honoring my decision. Cool.
Fang didn’t know to give Dan high marks. He laughed inside my head. BUFFY?
I shrugged, feeling kind of embarrassed. Hey, I don’t give my name to vampires as a general rule, and Buffy was the only thing I could come up with at the time. Cut me some slack.
Brittany looked uncertain for a moment, then used the fancy telephone system on her desk to hold a low-voiced conversation with someone. She hung up and beamed at us. “Alejandro is expecting you.” Handing Dan a key card, she added, “You’ll need this for the elevator, fourth floor, the executive suite.”
I turned toward the elevator, but Dan paused to lean down and smile at her, asking softly, “Shouldn’t you be home studying?”
Brittany’s smile faltered. “I’m eighteen—I can do what I want.”
She was the same age I was? She seemed years younger.
Fang added, AND WAY STUPIDER.
I had to agree. What a waste.
Dan snorted. “And you choose to spend your free time in the bad part of town, working for bloodsuckers, helping losers get their rocks off? Whatever they’re paying you, it isn’t enough.”
Looking offended, Brittany said, “They don’t pay me—I’m a volunteer. It’s a good cause. Do you know how many lives we save by manning these blood banks?”
“Do you know how many addicts you’re making in the process?” he countered.