Blake's Pursuit

by Tina Folsom

  Lilo stepped into the hallway as Blake flipped the light switch, illuminating a large entry hall with a mahogany staircase, a long hallway, and an open arch leading into the living room.

  “Wow.” The word just slipped out.

  Stunned, she let her eyes roam. She’d known that San Francisco was famous for its architecture, but she’d never actually been inside one of the gorgeous mansions portrayed in movies and on TV. The period detailing was intricate and beautiful. It lent the house instant warmth. This was a true home.

  “You actually live here?”

  Setting down her suitcase, he nodded and pointed to the living room. “Sorry, it still looks a little bare. But I only bought the place two months ago and I’m still waiting for a few more pieces of furniture to be delivered.”

  “It’s beautiful. I suppose being a bodyguard pays well.” She wanted to slap her hand over her mouth, but it was too late. It wasn’t polite to talk about money, but she couldn’t imagine how a man of Blake’s age—he had to be in his early thirties—could afford a mansion like this.

  “Well, my salary didn’t pay for this,” he said, suddenly looking at his shoes as if embarrassed. “I inherited a trust fund from my family.” He took an audible breath. “Well, how about I show you the guestroom?”

  “Could I maybe get a glass of water first?” Her throat felt like sandpaper.

  “Of course.” He motioned to the end of the hallway, when a sound from the front door made him spin around.

  Alerted by his sudden reaction, her heart thundered, and she snapped her head in the same direction. A gasp escaped her throat.

  A tall bald man stood in the open doorway, a pissed off look on his face, two bags in his hands.

  Instinctively, Lilo grabbed Blake’s forearm.

  “You were supposed to pick up the boys from my house,” the stranger growled and set down the luggage.

  “Sorry, something came up,” Blake replied.

  “Yeah, I can see that!” The man glared at her, before stepping aside to let two boys in their early teens enter the house. A young woman followed them.

  The boys immediately sauntered toward the living room.

  “Nicholas, Adam, didn’t I teach you better manners?” the dark-haired woman—who couldn’t possibly be their mother, not unless she’d had them when she was ten—called after them.

  The younger boy looked over his shoulder. “Sorry!” Then he glanced at Blake. “Hey, Blake.”

  “Hey, Adam,” Blake replied.

  The older boy looked stopped, too, tipping his chin in Blake’s direction. “Hey, Blake, okay if we play Xbox?”

  Blake grinned and winked at the bald man. “Only if your dad says it’s okay. Right, Zane?”

  Zane rolled his eyes. “As if you care what my sons are allowed or not allowed to do. Every time they stay with you, they come home acting like they were raised by wolves.”

  “You exaggerate.” Blake walked toward the woman and gave her a quick hug. “Hey, Portia.”

  The woman looked past him. “Don’t you wanna introduce us to your friend?”

  Suddenly all eyes were on Lilo, and she felt like she was on display.

  Blake turned on his heel. “This is Lilo. Lilo, this is my colleague Zane and his wife Portia.” He pointed to the living room. “And their sons, Nicholas and Adam.”

  Zane nodded and grunted a quick hello, while Portia smiled and said, “Nice to meet you, Lilo.”

  Zane turned to Blake. “If you don’t have time to look after the boys, we’ll take them to New Orleans with us.”

  “I said I’d take care of them. So I will.”

  “Just saying,” Zane added, looking as if assessing her. Then he pulled up one side of his mouth into an almost-smile. “Though anybody would be a better influence on the boys than you.”

  Portia shook her head and put her hand on her husband’s arm. “Don’t listen to him, Blake. He’s just pissed that Nicholas and Adam don’t want to come with us. He hates being separated from them.”

  Zane shot his wife an angry glare. “Damn it, Portia!”

  Instead of shrinking back from him, she stroked her hand over his cheek. Before her eyes, the intimidating man softened.

  “They’ll be safe with Blake,” Portia murmured.

  Lilo had never seen anything like it. Immediately, she understood their relationship. They were true partners, one incomplete without the other. This was what true love looked like. It existed. And it could last.

  Zane nodded before severing the intimate contact with his wife. His eyes met Blake’s. “You’d better make sure of that, or I’m gonna crush you with my bare hands.”

  “Get out of here, and have a great time in NOLA. Give my best to Cain and Faye,” Blake said.

  “Nicholas, Adam!” Zane called out.

  As if the boys knew that this was good-bye, they came running and flew into their father’s outstretched arms.

  “You guys behave, okay? Or I’ll be back to drag you down to New Orleans by your ears.” Despite the threat, Zane’s voice was soft.

  “Yes, Dad,” Nicholas said, and Adam echoed it.

  The affectionate exchange made them appear younger, and Lilo realized that despite their obvious attempts at wanting to show their independence from their parents by not going on this trip with them, they were still kids who sought their parents’ approval and affection.

  Portia bent down and kissed her sons. “Time to go.” She looked at Blake. “Thanks, Blake. And nice to meet you, Lilo. Don’t let the boys drive you crazy.”

  Involuntarily, Lilo had to smile. She liked the young mother who seemed to have such power over her husband and such confidence in Blake. When the door closed behind them and the two boys were already running back into the living room, Lilo turned and found herself facing Blake.

  “It’s nice of you to look after two young boys.”

  Blake shrugged. “They’re really no trouble.”

  She lifted an eyebrow, when she heard one of the boys yell.

  “Give me that remote! It’s my turn!” It was the younger boy.

  “I’m the man in the house when Dad’s not here, and you know it.”

  Blake chuckled and winked at her. “Okay, maybe just a little trouble.”

  “Blake?” came Nicholas’s voice from the living room.

  “Yes?” he answered and walked toward the arch, looking into the room.

  Lilo followed him.

  “I’m going to stay in the guestroom with the turret. Adam can sleep in the room out front,” Nicholas announced in a determined voice.

  “That’s not what we agreed!” Adam ground out and kicked his brother in the shin. “You said we were gonna play for it. And whoever wins the first game gets that room. You’re such a jerk sometimes.”

  “Hey guys, sorry, but you’ll have to share the room out front,” Blake interrupted.

  Both boys stared at Blake, their mouths gaping open. “Why?”

  “Lilo is staying in the room with the turret.”

  Nicholas jumped up. “What? I don’t wanna share with Adam. I need my own room. Can’t your girlfriend stay in your room? It’s not like you have to pretend for us.” The teenager puffed up his chest. “I know about these things.”

  Lilo felt heat shoot into her cheeks. They thought she was Blake’s girlfriend? Just like Zane had probably thought so, too. His look had implied as much.

  Next to her Blake ground out a low curse. “You’re sharing the room out front. No discussion.” Then he turned to look at her and said more quietly, “I’m sorry about that. They’re just boys. They don’t know any better.”

  9

  Blake closed the refrigerator and turned back to Nicholas and Adam who were both stuffing their faces with sandwiches. That was one thing about young hybrids: they were constantly eating. Not only human food, but also blood to keep up their vampire strength. It didn’t matter that it was two in the morning.

  “And not another remark about Lilo and me. Is that c
lear?” he said, pinning Nicholas with his eyes.

  The boy shrugged and managed to look sheepish. “How was I supposed to know she’s not your girlfriend?”

  “That’s exactly the reason why you don’t make assumptions.”

  “Is she pissed at us?” Adam interrupted.

  Blake smiled at him. “I don’t think so.” Somewhat embarrassed maybe, but not upset. At least that much he’d gathered when he’d shown her to her room in silence. That had been nearly a half hour ago. “Now eat, and then you should go to bed.”

  Nicholas protested instantly. “It’s school holidays. We’re allowed to stay up as long as we want.”

  Blake tilted his head to the side.

  “Honestly!” the fifteen-year-old hybrid insisted. “Even Dad lets us keep vampire hours when there’s no school.”

  Adam kicked him under the table. “Shh! You’re not supposed to say vampire when there’s a human in the house.” He lifted his eyes and met Blake’s gaze, looking for approval. “Right, Blake?”

  “That’s right, Adam. Your brother should know better.”

  Nicholas shrugged, Blake’s scolding sliding off him like oil off a Teflon pan. “So the broad doesn’t know what you are, huh?”

  “Broad?” Blake asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

  Adam rolled his eyes, looking all grown-up, despite his tender age of thirteen. “Nikki’s been watching those old gangster movies. You know, Al Capone stuff.”

  “You’re not supposed to call me Nikki! I’m too old for that.”

  “Enough, guys. If you want to stay up, you’ll have to behave. And that means: nobody calls a woman a broad, the word vampire will not come out of either one of your mouths, and there will be no fighting. Do I make myself clear?”

  Adam nodded wordlessly, while Nicholas said, “And Adam can’t call me Nikki.”

  Blake sighed. There was just no winning an argument with a teenager. “Remind me why I volunteered to watch you two while your parents visit Cain and Faye.”

  Adam’s face split into a wide grin. “’Cause you love us and we’re fun to hang out with?”

  Blake threw his head back and laughed. “I guess I can’t argue with that. Now go play before I change my mind.”

  He rose and was about to clear off the kitchen table when he heard a beep from the kitchen’s security monitor, and the corresponding sound of the front door opening. He glanced at the screen: Eddie was finally here.

  He marched out into the hallway to greet his friend and colleague. As always, Eddie was dressed in his biker gear: leather, and more leather. With his sandy-blond hair and deep dimples, he looked like the kid from next door.

  “Thanks for coming, Eddie.”

  “What can I do?”

  Blake ushered him into his office.

  “Haven’t had time to unpack, huh?” Eddie asked, pointing at the boxes that were stacked up against one wall.

  Blake grinned. “Maybe I’ll get Nicholas and Adam to give me a hand while they’re here.”

  Eddie chuckled. “Yeah, good luck with that.” He sauntered to the desk. “Is that the laptop you wanted me to have a crack at?”

  “Yes, it belongs to Hannah Bergdorf. Have at it.”

  “Do I know her?”

  “She works for Vüber and disappeared three days ago.”

  Eddie nodded and slunk into the chair behind the desk. He pulled out a small electronic device from his pocket and connected it to the computer, then booted up the machine. While he waited, Eddie asked, “Did you check her last Vüber ride to see if a customer could be involved in her disappearance?”

  “Finn sent me the info of her last ride, but I have the feeling that’s a dead end.”

  “Why?”

  “Her last ride was a Scanguards employee: Roxanne. I left a message for Roxanne to call me, but you know she’s solid. I’d trust her with my life.”

  Eddie nodded and started typing on the keyboard. “Same here.” Then he fell silent, focusing on his task.

  Blake walked to the window and stared out into the darkness. In five hours, the sun would come up, limiting him in his search for Hannah. While he didn’t need much sleep, he wouldn’t be able to explore every lead during the daytime. He would have to rely on others, mostly hybrids, whom the sun’s rays couldn’t hurt.

  Fortunately, Blake’s house was outfitted with several special features, designed by Scanguards’ IT expert Thomas, which made it easier to hide his vampiric nature from Lilo. The windows were treated with special UV-impenetrable coating, making it possible for him to move around unimpeded, without the need for heavy, drawn curtains during the daytime. As long as Nicholas and Adam didn’t trip him up, his secret was safe.

  “Hi.”

  The quiet female voice made him turn. Lilo stood in the open door to his office, hesitating. He motioned her to approach, and walked toward her. “Come in, Lilo.” He pointed to Eddie. “This is my colleague Eddie.”

  Eddie lifted his head for a moment and gave a quick nod of acknowledgement. “Hey.” Then he immersed himself in his work again.

  “I thought you might have gone to sleep.”

  She shook her blond locks. “I can’t sleep. Too much has happened.”

  “I know. Come, I want to talk to you.” He pointed to the Chesterfield couch in one corner of the office.

  Lilo sat down, and he followed her. “I want to know more about this Ronny. We need to find him.”

  “I’ve told the police everything I know.”

  “Tell me again. Maybe there was something you missed. Every detail is important.” Blake sat on the edge of the couch and turned sideways, his elbows resting on his knees, leaning toward her. “Tell me everything Hannah told you about him.”

  Lilo sighed. “It started maybe six to eight months ago. She didn’t tell me at first, maybe because she knew I wouldn’t approve of him.”

  “Why?”

  “Hannah is too good. She’s the kind of person who picks up strays, because she pities them, and then ends up a penniless cat lady.”

  Involuntarily, Blake had to smile. “She always thinks the best of people.”

  “Unfortunately,” Lilo agreed. “But it never ends well. I knew Ronny was a loser from the moment she told me about him.”

  “A loser? In what way?”

  She huffed. “Well, for starters, he was in between jobs.” She made air quotes around the words to emphasize her disdain. “I don’t think you can be in between jobs, when you’ve never had a real job.”

  “So how did he make money?”

  Lilo shrugged. “Hell knows. Sponging off girlfriends?”

  “You think he used Hannah?”

  “Probably. Or he did something illegal. She always made excuses for him when I asked why he hadn’t gotten a job.”

  “What kind of excuses?”

  “That he couldn’t work the hours they wanted him to work. That there weren’t that many jobs that would let him work the nightshift.” She threw up her hands. “I mean, who wants to work the nightshift if they don’t have to? Particularly if your girlfriend works during the day. That makes no sense at all.”

  “Hmm.” Blake pretended to think about that, as he’d already guessed the reason why Ronny wanted to work the nightshift. “Did Hannah ever mention how she and Ronny met?”

  “Through her job somehow.”

  “You sure?”

  “I think he was a customer, and they got to talking one day.”

  This was the break he’d been looking for. Excitedly, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket. While dialing, he said to Lilo, “If he was a customer, Vüber will have his information. He would have had to sign up for an account.”

  Lilo’s face brightened with hope. She reached for his hand and squeezed it. “Oh, I hope you’re right.”

  The call was answered. “It’s Finn, what’s up?”

  “Finn, it’s Blake. Can you please go through Vüber’s customer records and find anybody with the name of Ron, or Ronny, or
Ronald. Cross-reference anybody you find with the fares Hannah Bergdorf accepted in the last eight months. Can you do that for me?”

  “When do you need it by?”

  “ASAP.”

  “Give me about an hour and a half.”

  “Thanks. Call me as soon as you have something.”

  “No prob.”

  Blake disconnected the phone. “We should know more in a couple of hours.”

  Lilo shook her head, disbelief coloring her features. “I’m amazed at all the things your company can do. I mean, you seem to have more resources than the police. And you work a lot faster than they do.”

  He grinned. “Don’t tell them or they’ll get envious.”

  She hesitated, studying him for a long moment. “What you’re doing… it’s legal, isn’t it?”

  “Of course it’s legal. The customer records belong to the company. We decide what to do with them, particularly when it means protecting one of our employees. So don’t worry about it.”

  “Hey, I’m in,” Eddie interrupted.

  Blake jumped up and rushed to Eddie’s side. “Let’s see. Go to her emails.”

  Lilo walked to Eddie’s other side and looked over his shoulder, too, while he scrolled through Hannah’s inbox, scanning the emails. For fifteen minutes they all silently perused her messages, but there was nothing that gave any clue as to Hannah’s whereabouts or what she had wanted to speak to Lilo about so urgently.

  “Nothing,” Blake said, frustrated. He ran a hand through his hair. “How about her calendar?”

  Eddie navigated to her online calendar. A second later, he looked up, surprised. “Not a single entry.”

  “Hannah was paranoid that her computer would crash and she’d lose all her appointment info.” Lilo met Eddie’s look. “She always wrote them on paper. She kept a diary.”

  Blake nodded. “We need to find it.” He rounded the desk. “Eddie, can you go through whatever else is on the computer? And the tablet, too. Files, browsing history, etcetera, while I go over to Hannah’s flat and search for her diary?”