Blake's Pursuit

by Tina Folsom

  Lilo hesitated, then transferred the hairdryer to her other hand, before shaking his. “She never mentioned you.”

  “She never mentioned you either.” Though he had no reason to believe that Lilo was lying. “Have you seen her?”

  Lilo blinked before answering. “No. The apartment was empty when I arrived earlier tonight.”

  Blake glanced around. “She hasn’t shown up for work. Didn’t call in sick, which isn’t like her. We’re concerned.”

  “So am I. That’s why I flew out here. I think something happened to her.” Suddenly she sagged against the doorframe, all the air leaving her lungs.

  Instinctively, Blake reached for her, but she eased to the side, stepping into the living room.

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to…” he started. He shoved a hand through his hair. “It wasn’t my intention to frighten you. Guess that burglar did his fair share of it already. Are you okay?”

  She forced a faint smile, but shook her head. “No. I’m not okay. My friend is missing. Her dog’s gone, too. And she’s not answering her cell. Her mother is worried sick.” She pulled the robe tighter around her torso. “And I need to file a missing person’s report.”

  “I can take care of that,” he offered, though he had no intention of going to the police. This was vampire business. It was paramount that he deal with Hannah’s disappearance himself; he didn’t want to involve the police.

  She shook her head, vehemently. “No. I have to go to the police. I owe her. It’s my fault she’s gone.”

  Blake instinctively stepped closer. “What? Why is it your fault?”

  Lilo’s beautiful face took on a pained expression. “She left me a message that she needed to talk. Something was bothering her, and I didn’t respond. I was too busy.”

  “And that somehow makes it your fault?” He shook his head. “That’s ludicrous.”

  Lilo suddenly shivered, and he realized that the cold air coming from the kitchen window was bothering her. He turned around and closed it, then ushered her toward the couch in the living room.

  She lifted her eyes, and her gaze collided with his. “I should have called her back when she needed me. It’s my fault.”

  5

  “Please sit down. You’re more shook up than I thought.”

  Her rescuer’s voice was deep and melodic and made her shiver once more. Lilo realized that she hadn’t even thanked him yet. Instead she’d railed at him and treated him with suspicion. Yet here he was, taking the hairdryer from her hand, putting it aside, and guiding her gently to the couch as if she were fragile and would break at any moment. And maybe she would. She wasn’t one of the brave characters from her books, who dealt with crime daily and wasn’t afraid of anything.

  “I’m—”

  “What’s going on here?” a male voice coming from the front door asked.

  Lilo whipped her head in his direction. In the open doorframe stood a middle-aged man, wearing pajamas and a long dark-green bathrobe. He glanced into the apartment.

  Blake was already walking toward him. “Nothing to worry about. It’s all taken care of.” He reached the door and blocked her view, continuing his conversation with the concerned neighbor, lowering his voice so much that she couldn’t hear what he was saying.

  A moment later Blake turned around and closed the door behind him. They were alone again.

  As he walked toward her with his confident gait, she took the opportunity and eyed him up. He was a little over six feet tall and athletic. His hair was dark, his eyes azure-blue. He had a strong, square chin and a long, straight nose. Underneath his Polo shirt she could see his chest muscles flex.

  He was handsome; very much so. Maybe in his early thirties. Rugged, in a romantic kind of way. And he looked exactly like she’d always imagined Morgan West, the bounty hunter from her mystery series, would look in real life.

  She shook her head to try to return to reality. She wasn’t living in one of her books for a change. This was real life. Real danger. And this man had saved her from a true threat.

  “I haven’t even thanked you,” she started.

  He stopped in front of her and sat down on the edge of the old wooden coffee table. He grinned. “No need. I’m just glad you’ve stopped hitting me.”

  She cringed. “I only hit you once. And it was an accident. I was after the other guy. I’m sorry.”

  “Forget about it.” He leaned in a little. “Tell me what happened.”

  Lilo tugged at the bathrobe she’d borrowed from Hannah. “I was taking a quick shower after my flight, getting ready to go to the police, when I heard something. I thought it must be a burglar. So I figured I’d chase him away before he stole something.”

  “Chase him away? Why didn’t you call 9-1-1?”

  “I tried.” She pointed to the armchair where the contents of her handbag were still strewn about. She still couldn’t see her cell phone among her things. “But I couldn’t find my cell phone. I think he took it before he went into the kitchen. And then he heard me, and it was too late.” She shivered. “I don’t know what he would have done.”

  Blake pressed his lips together and nodded, frowning. “Good thing I got here in time. Well, you’d better get dressed and pack up your things. You can’t stay here now.” He rose.

  She shot up from the couch. “I can’t just leave. I need to stay here. What if Hannah comes back? With my phone gone she has no way of contacting me.”

  “It’s not safe here.” The sharp edge in his voice brooked no refusal.

  And riled her up instantly. “Because of a burglar? It happens all the time in large cities. I’m not some country bumpkin who—”

  “It’s got nothing to do with that,” he interrupted and glared at her. “This was no random burglary. That guy is gonna come back. And I don’t want you to be here when he does.”

  Her heart started to thunder and in the back of her mind something tried to push to the surface. “Why do you think that?”

  “I work in security. I have a gut feeling for this kind of stuff. Trust me on that. This guy was looking for something specific.” He motioned to the contents of her handbag. “Why take your phone, but not your wallet? What burglar leaves behind cash and credit cards?”

  Lilo followed his gesture. He was right; her wallet lay on the armchair, open. She could see that the money was still in it. And then she remembered what the burglar had said to her while he had her on the couch.

  “He asked me where it is,” she said out loud.

  “Where what is?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know what he was talking about. He pressed me down on the couch and said: Where is it? That’s all. Then you came in.”

  “Do you have anything valuable on you?”

  “No. Just my computer, my cell phone, which I can’t find, and my wallet. I have no jewelry on me. Nothing of value to anybody but myself. I travel light.”

  Blake nodded and glanced around, his eyes falling on the computer on the table. “Is that yours?”

  “No. That’s Hannah’s. I tried to get in to check her emails, but it’s password-protected.”

  “That’s fine. We’ll take it with us. I’ll check whether she left her cell phone or anything else that could give us a clue to where she is. In the meantime, get dressed and pack your things. You’re coming with me.” His voice was commanding, as if he was used to his orders being followed without question.

  “But I have to go to the police and report her missing.”

  For a moment, he just looked at her, studying her face. Then he sighed. “Fine. We’ll stop by the police on the way.”

  She hesitated, instinctively pulling her bathrobe more tightly around her. “I don’t know you…”

  “I understand that. But if I really wanted to hurt you, I could have done so a million times.”

  She looked into his blue eyes and saw the sincerity there. Slowly, she nodded. He was right. “Okay, give me a few minutes to get my stuff together.”

 
And to calm down and recover from the shock of being attacked—and then rescued by a man who could make the heart of any woman flutter. Even hers.

  6

  While Lilo got dressed in the bedroom, Blake used the time wisely and searched the place for anything that could help pinpoint Hannah’s whereabouts. He also sent a text message.

  Now he hoisted Lilo’s suitcase into the trunk of his Aston Martin, a gift from his 4th great-grandparents, Rose and Quinn, after he’d totaled his BMW four years earlier—and a way for them to tease him. After all, in his twenties he’d seen himself as his British namesake, Bond, and tried to pick up girls with 007’s signature greeting. How pathetic he’d been back then. Now he was so much more—more than he’d ever dreamed he could be. A member of a group of vampires who had made it their mission to protect the innocent.

  Blake placed Hannah’s computer and tablet in a bag next to Lilo’s luggage. He hadn’t found Hannah’s cell phone, which could turn out to be good news. If she had it on her, and it was switched on, it would be easy to track: the Vüber app had a built-in GPS. He wouldn’t even have to contact his IT crew to triangulate the phone.

  Blake walked around the car and got in on the driver’s side. Lilo was already sitting in the passenger seat. He unlocked his cell phone and opened the Vüber app. As a Scanguards manager, he had the administrative version of the app on his phone, which allowed him to locate various Vüber drivers and identify them by name, something a regular user couldn’t do, in order to protect the drivers’ anonymity.

  “What are you doing?”

  He glanced at Lilo, before tapping the app and entering Hannah’s name.

  “Hannah’s phone has an app on it that shows where she is, so that people who are interested in hiring her know how close she is.”

  “She told me she was working as a driver. So this is a competitor of Uber?”

  “Not really. Vüber only operates during daytime.”

  Lilo furrowed her forehead. “Why? That doesn’t seem like a very good business model.”

  He smiled involuntarily. Vüber didn’t exist primarily to make money. It had been created as a convenience for the vampire population of San Francisco and the Bay Area. “We commissioned a study and found that most attacks on professional drivers are committed at night, but that the majority of rides are needed during daytime. So we decided to create a division which maximizes fares, yet minimizes attacks on drivers.” It wasn’t exactly the truth, but it was a reasonable explanation, one he hoped Lilo would buy.

  “I’d never thought of that. That’s actually very… uh, considerate of the company.” Now she pointed to the cell phone in his hand. “Is she showing up?”

  Blake looked back at the app and saw that the wheel had stopped spinning. Not found, the screen told him. He lifted his eyes and met Lilo’s hopeful gaze. Wordlessly, he shook his head.

  She sighed, and he could sense the disappointment rolling off her. “I guess that would have been too easy.”

  He logged out and opened up his messenger app. He pulled up a contact, before handing the phone to Lilo.

  “Type in your cell phone number,” he said, starting the car.

  “What for?”

  He pulled into the street and merged into the light evening traffic. “If the intruder still has it, I might be able to find him by triangulating your phone.”

  She sighed. “I know how it works. But why would you do that? The police will take care of that.”

  “By the time we get to the station and get somebody on the case, he may have already ditched your phone. It’d be too late.”

  Accepting his explanation, she typed something into the app and handed him the phone. He took it and kept one eye on the traffic, while he forwarded the number, before dialing Thomas’s number.

  Scanguards’ Chief of IT answered immediately. “What’s up?”

  “I just texted you a cell number. Can you try and track it right now?”

  “I suppose it’s urgent and can’t wait,” Thomas replied, a smirk in his voice.

  “You guessed right. Call me when you have something.”

  “Sure thing.”

  The call disconnected. Blake placed his phone in the cup holder and gave Lilo a sideways glance. “We’ll know very soon if it’s switched on and he’s still got it.”

  She nodded. “Do you do this a lot? I mean…” She pointed to the phone. “…find missing phones and track down burglars?”

  “I do whatever is necessary.”

  “You said you worked in security. What kind?”

  From the corner of his eye, he noticed her studying him. Fair enough. Now that the initial shock of being attacked had subsided, she was bound to have questions. “Personal security.”

  “You mean like a bodyguard?”

  He nodded.

  “You mentioned you work for the same company as Hannah. She never said anything about working for a bodyguard company.”

  He could feel the suspicion rolling off her. At least it meant she had her wits about her, though he didn’t relish the fact that he had to give her more explanations. The less she knew about Scanguards the better.

  “Different divisions, remember?”

  “Yeah, you said. Still doesn’t tell me much.”

  “There isn’t much to tell.”

  “Funny, I had a feeling you’d say that.”

  He tossed her another sideways look. Her don’t-bullshit-me expression was easy to read. It was time to pacify her.

  “Listen, Lilo, the company I work for deals with highly sensitive issues. Our clients demand confidentiality. That’s probably why Hannah never told you much about her work. But let me assure you, we take care of our employees. And when somebody goes missing, like Hannah, we don’t just rely on the police to find that person. We use all our resources.”

  He stopped at a red light and let go of the steering wheel, reaching for Lilo’s hand. Only when he felt her warm skin against his and heard her suck in a breath, did he realize what he was doing. But it was too late to withdraw now. He squeezed her hand, enjoying the tender touch for a brief moment.

  “We’ll find Hannah. Alive and well. I promise you that.” Though he had no right to make such a promise. For all he knew, Hannah could already be dead. But he couldn’t share his worries with Lilo or she would fall apart. He needed her to remain strong.

  “I hope you’re right.”

  For a moment, their gazes locked. He saw concern in her eyes. He’d do anything to wipe that expression from her face and see her smile instead. There were so many things he wanted to see on her face: laughter, joy… he inhaled… arousal. He eased his torso across the divide between the two seats. She looked so vulnerable… so tempting.

  The vampire in him was drawn to her blood. And the man was drawn to her beauty and the strength he’d sensed during their initial argument. She was no pushover—no damsel in distress. Far from it. She was the most fascinating woman he’d ever met. A woman with the most tempting lips…

  Honking from behind him made him jerk back and let go of her hand.

  Fuck!

  What had he been about to do? He’d only met her less than an hour ago. And he wasn’t the kind of guy to paw at a woman just because she was hot. And, damn it, Lilo was hot! But that was besides the point. He wasn’t into one-night stands, hadn’t been in years. He liked to get to know a woman first, before becoming physical—though in his twenties he’d been the opposite. He’d been the wham-bam-thank-you-Ma’am type. But that had changed with age and his mounting responsibilities as Chief of Hybrid Security. Now he liked to take things slowly. So why the fuck had he leaned in as if to kiss her?

  Get a grip, man!

  He cleared his throat and turned right at the intersection, then pulled into a parking spot in front of the station. At this time of night, it was only moderately busy.

  “Is this the station?” Lilo asked, her voice a touch hoarse.

  Blake pointed to the entry, over which the words Police St
ation were illuminated.

  ~ ~ ~

  As Blake got out of the car, Lilo fumbled with her seatbelt, trembling. She’d mumbled some idiotic question just to escape the silence that had descended between them after that car had honked at them to move.

  Embarrassment burned in her cheeks even now. She’d held onto Blake’s hand, loving the feel of his gentle touch, when all he’d wanted was to comfort her. Instead, she’d leaned in as if drawn to him by some inexplicable force. She’d never believed in such a thing, never thought that she, of all people, could be drawn to somebody as if hypnotized. She, who didn’t trust men, because she’d been disappointed one too many times. But her body didn’t seem to remember those times when her trust had been shattered. Instead, her body yearned for the stranger who’d rescued her from the intruder. Maybe that was the reason for her inexplicable attraction: she felt grateful. Of course, the fact that Blake was the personification of her fictional hero, Morgan West, might have something to do with her momentary lapse in judgment. She would just have to ignore this tiny detail and try not to confuse him with her dashing bounty hunter anymore.

  Lilo finally undid the seatbelt and took a deep breath. She could do this.

  Before she could reach for the door handle, the door opened. She got out and nodded at Blake, who was holding the car door open for her. Clutching her handbag to her side she said, “Let’s do this.”

  She avoided looking at him and walked up the steps leading to the double doors. She heard the car door close, followed by a beeping sound, indicating that Blake had locked the car. His footsteps were close behind her, and by the time she’d reached the entrance, he’d caught up to her and was holding the door open like a perfect gentleman. Not even Morgan West did that. She made a mental note to give her fictional hero better manners.

  The station was busy. A few prostitutes sat on a bench, while several officers shuffled papers behind a high counter. In one corridor, a drunken man was being led away, while a well-dressed man argued with a police officer in a cubicle. From down the hall, somebody yelled for somebody else to be quiet. A female police officer stood at the counter with a receiver pressed between her ear and shoulder, scribbling onto a clipboard and simultaneously leafing through a stack of papers.