by Tina Folsom
Lilo nodded. “I understand.” She sighed. It had been unrealistic to hope they’d found Hannah so quickly.
He pointed to her hand. “What have you got there?”
She showed him the book in her hand. “Hannah’s appointment book. I thought I’d go through it again to see if I can find anything that might lead us to her.” She doubted it, but last night she’d been too tired to go through it again, and today she had fresh eyes. Maybe she’d find something.
“Good idea.”
She gave a faint smile. “Anything on Ronny’s computer yet?”
Wesley pointed to the laptop in front of him. “The IT department sent me everything they found on it. I’m analyzing it right now.”
Curious, she stepped around to look at the screen, but Wesley stood up and blocked her view. “You must be hungry. The boys are in the kitchen, getting some food. Why don’t you join them?” He winked. “And if they start getting rowdy, give me a holler and I’ll set them straight. They know I’m the boss around here when Blake’s out.”
Hesitantly she nodded, feeling a little taken aback by his obvious attempt at preventing her from looking at what they’d found on Ronny’s computer. She motioned to it. “You’d tell me if you found something bad, wouldn’t you?”
“Promise.” He smiled a kind, warm smile. “Now, go eat something, before Adam and Nicholas empty the fridge. I’ll let you know when I have something concrete.”
With a nod of acknowledgement she turned and followed his suggestion.
Lilo pushed the door to the kitchen open, feeling a little awkward about roaming the house while her host was absent, but now that Wesley had brought it up, she did feel hungry. Her last meal had been before she’d boarded the plane in Omaha.
Nicholas and Adam were both sitting at the kitchen table.
“Morning,” Nicholas chimed and immediately turned back to the plate in front of him, shoving an overly full fork of scrambled eggs into his mouth.
Adam, who sat opposite him, nodded shyly and mumbled, “Hi. It’s not really morning anymore.”
“Hi,” she replied, forcing herself to sound cheerful. She pointed to the refrigerator. “I was just gonna make myself something to eat.”
Adam pointed to his plate. “We already finished the scrambled eggs Wes made. But there are more eggs in the fridge.”
He attempted to rise, but she raised her hand, stopping him. “No, no, eat, please. I’ll find something.”
Lilo placed Hannah’s appointment book on the counter and opened the refrigerator. It was well-stocked for a bachelor’s fridge, and not just with junk food. Staples like milk, eggs, and orange juice greeted her. As did yogurts and cheeses, cold cuts and vegetables.
She took out everything she needed for a healthy omelet and got to work.
“Lilo, do you want to play videogames with us later?” Adam suddenly asked.
She looked at him. “Oh, I’d like to, but I’m not very good. I’m afraid I’d just be holding you back.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
Nicholas shook his head, motioning to his younger brother. “Don’t give in. He’s just looking for somebody he can beat, ‘cause he’s got no chance against me.”
“That’s so not true!” Adam piped up.
Lilo tossed the omelet mixture into the hot pan, before looking back at the two teenagers. “I’m sure you’re both very good. But I never got into playing videogames.”
“So what did you do then?”
“Read.”
“Sounds boring,” Nicholas commented.
“Not really,” Lilo said, flipping the omelet in the pan, so it could brown on the other side. “Some books can take you on quite an adventure.”
Nicholas shrugged, disinterested. “Okay.”
Adam’s eyes widened a little, showing that he wasn’t quite as blasé about books as his older brother. “What kind of books?”
“I like mysteries and thrillers.”
Adam grinned. “You mean with lots of blood and gore?”
She laughed out loud. Figured that a teenager would be interested in that. “Not necessarily. But with lots of suspense.”
“Oh, yeah, well.” Clearly, she’d lost Adam’s interest now, too.
But she loved a challenge. And maybe there was a way of winning Adam’s interest again.
She tossed her omelet on a plate and walked to the table, joining the two boys. After the first bite, she said casually, “You know, I write books for a living.”
Both boys’ heads snapped up.
“You’re an author?” Nicholas asked, suddenly all ears. “You write, like, real books?”
“What do you write?” Adam wanted to know, his eyes now even wider than before.
She smiled to herself. One nil for Maxim Holt! Of course, she couldn’t tell the boys what her pen name was. It was a closely-guarded secret, particularly because she wrote under a male pseudonym, a necessity in order to be taken seriously in the male-dominated thriller genre. If it came out that the writer behind the Morgan West Bounty Hunter series was a woman, millions of male readers would feel cheated.
“I write thrillers and mysteries. You know—” She winked at Adam. “—with barely any blood and gore, but with lots of suspense.”
“Wow, that’s cool,” Nicholas said. “So, can we have one of your books? I mean just to see what they’re like.”
“I don’t have any on me right now.”
“You can probably order them online somewhere, right?” Adam tossed her a hopeful glance.
“Sure.” What had she started? All she’d wanted was to show the boys that reading didn’t have to be boring, and now they were eager to find out about her books. She’d have to stall them. “I’ll check on that later.”
Adam pointed to a nook where a laptop was sitting. “You can use that computer. There’s no password on it.”
Lilo shoved another forkful of her omelet into her mouth, buying herself a moment before answering. It turned out she didn’t have to, because the door suddenly opened. A young Asian woman with a boy entered.
She stopped, looking surprised. “Oh, hi!”
“Hey, Sebastian!” Adam called out and jumped up. “You wanna play videogames?”
Lilo rose from her chair and walked up to the woman, stretching her hand out and perusing her. Her black hair was straight, and shimmered when she moved, and her almond-shaped eyes were dark and mysterious. She looked exotic, graceful, and gorgeous.
“Hi, I’m Lilo. I’m just visiting.”
“She’s Blake’s friend,” Nicholas interjected. “She stayed overnight.”
At Nicholas’s words, Lilo felt like cringing. This wasn’t the impression she wanted to give everybody: that she was some one-night stand Blake had dragged in.
The woman smiled and took her hand, shaking it briefly. “I’m Ursula, Blake’s sister-in-law.” Her eyes followed her son who was heading for the refrigerator now. “Sebastian, you just ate.”
He looked over his shoulder. “Yeah, but I’m growing.” He ripped the refrigerator door open.
Ursula rolled her eyes. “Can’t argue with that, can I?” She smiled at Lilo. “So, you’re visiting Blake. He didn’t mention that he was expecting anybody.”
“Oh, uh, it was very last minute. I, uh…”
Ursula made a dismissive hand movement. “Don’t worry. I’m not prying. I just wanted to drop off Sebastian. He likes hanging out with these hoodlums here.”
“Ursula, you shouldn’t call us hoodlums,” Adam said in a strict tone. “We’re very well behaved.”
“With a father like Zane, who wouldn’t be?” She winked at the boys, then turned back to Lilo. “Don’t tell me you got roped into watching them.”
“No, Wesley is here while Blake is at the office.”
Ursula’s eyebrows snapped together. “At this time of day?”
Lilo tossed her a surprised look. It was afternoon. Why would she find it strange that Blake was at the office?
&n
bsp; “I mean,” Ursula added hastily, “I thought he was on the night shift.”
“Oh, yeah, he is, but we’re looking for my friend. Hannah. She disappeared. That’s why I’m here. I flew in from Omaha yesterday, and Blake is helping me find her.”
“Ah, I see. I didn’t realize you were a client. Well, your case is in the best hands.” She looked at her wrist watch. “I’d better go. I have some shopping to do. I’ll be back in a few hours to pick Sebastian up.”
A howl of disappointment came from Sebastian, who turned a pleading look at his mother. “I thought I could spend the night. They are.” He pointed to Nicholas and Adam.
“Yes, because they somehow managed to convince their parents to go to New Orleans without them.”
Nicholas snickered. “It was a stroke of genius to suggest to Mom that this could be like a second honeymoon for her and Dad.”
Ursula turned her eyes to the ceiling. “How manipulative.” Then she looked back at her son. “How about I pick you up at midnight?” She opened the door and stepped through.
Surprised, Lilo followed her. “How old is Sebastian?”
“Twelve. Why?”
“At his age, I was lucky to be allowed to stay up till nine.”
Ursula shrugged. “It’s the school holidays. I’m much stricter when he has to go to school. But he’s a boy with lots of energy, and he needs to hang out with his friends. He’s an only child, you know.”
At the front door, Ursula stopped. “I hope you find your friend.”
“That’s very kind of you to say.”
A moment later, the door fell shut behind Blake’s sister-in-law. For a while, Lilo just stood there, lost in her own thoughts. She’d only just met Blake, but she practically knew his entire family already: Rose, his cousin, Ursula, his sister-in-law, and Sebastian, his nephew. Not to speak of his friends and colleagues and their kids. Her last boyfriend had taken several months before reluctantly introducing her to his brother, and by the time he was ready to introduce her to his mother, Lilo had been ready to break up with him.
Surprised at the direction her thoughts had taken, she shook her head. One kiss didn’t make a boyfriend. It was best that she be realistic about that and concentrate on what was important: finding Hannah.
A loud noise interrupted her thoughts. It originated in the kitchen, where, judging by the shrieks, the slamming of doors and drawers, and the three boys talking over each other, something was getting out of hand.
16
Lilo pushed the door to the kitchen open and stepped into chaos. Nicholas was shouting at the two younger boys as they fought over the half-gallon carton of orange juice.
“There’s enough for both of you!” Nicholas ground out. “You idiots!”
Instantly both boys glared at him.
“You’re the idiot!” Adam let out.
Nicholas suddenly growled like an animal. “Don’t talk to me like that!” He lunged at his brother.
“Stop it!” Lilo screamed, rushing toward them.
All heads turned to her, and several things happened at once. Nicholas crashed into Adam, and Adam released his hold on the orange juice, knocking his elbow into Sebastian’s stomach. Sebastian gasped, and also let go of the carton, his hand instinctively flying to his stomach to protect himself.
The carton tipped over, and the orange liquid spilled over the counter, soaking everything on it.
“Oh shit!” Adam cursed in a tiny voice, his eyes darting to the counter.
But Lilo was already rushing toward it, trying to save what could be saved. She was too late: Hannah’s appointment book sat in a puddle of orange juice, its padded cover soaking up the liquid, the decorative dried flowers dissolving into a gooey mess.
“Oh no!” she cried out.
“Sorry,” Sebastian said, stepping away from the counter to let her pass. Then he pointed his finger at Adam and Nicholas. “But those two started it.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” she said to the boy. Reprimanding him wouldn’t help now that the proverbial milk was spilled. Instead, she quickly reached for a kitchen towel and lifted the appointment book up, wrapping it in the towel and soaking up as much of the liquid as she could, hoping the pages weren’t ruined.
Lilo stepped aside to the kitchen island, where it was dry, and grabbed a fresh towel, still trying to salvage the book. Behind her, Nicholas took charge of the clean-up efforts.
“It dripped on the floor, too,” he said. “Adam, get me another towel.”
His brother voiced no protest, but Lilo wasn’t paying much attention to the boys now. Her focus was on saving the pages of Hannah’s appointment book, and preserving the writing inside. Carefully, she dabbed the sides of the book with the dry towel, hoping that the orange juice hadn’t damaged it too badly. When it looked like she’d soaked up all the liquid, she set the towel aside and opened the book in the middle.
Some of the liquid had bled about an inch into the book, but hadn’t done any damage to the writing. She leafed through the book and sighed in relief, before closing it again. That’s when she saw it: the padded back cover was starting to peel away. She turned the book over and suddenly noticed a bump underneath the cover. Delicately she peeled the damaged padding away.
A gasp escaped her.
There, affixed to the hard cover of the book, hidden underneath heavy padding, sat a thin USB stick. On its shiny casing, the letter H was written with a pink Sharpie.
“Hannah,” she murmured to herself. Only Hannah could have put it there.
Nicholas was suddenly standing next to her, staring curiously at the appointment book. She met his gaze, but didn’t say anything.
After a moment of silence, he looked over his shoulder. “Hey Adam, Sebastian, how about we play some videogames?” Then he ushered the two younger boys into the living room.
When the door fell shut behind them, Lilo took a deep breath. Maybe now she’d find out what had been troubling Hannah. For her friend to hide a USB stick in her appointment book, something serious had to be going on.
She reached for the USB stick. It was a little damp, so she dried it. Remembering Adam’s comment that she could use the laptop in the kitchen, she walked to the nook and sat down in front of the computer. She jiggled the mouse, and the screen woke up.
While she inserted the stick into a USB port, all kinds of ideas as to what data she would find coursed through her head. Had Hannah come across some government corruption or witnessed a crime? Had she come into possession of important documents that had inadvertently put her in danger? Was she involved with some kind of organized crime, like the Mafia, Russian or otherwise?
Finally, a window opened, displaying the contents of the memory stick: one single file. A video. She double-clicked it, then extended the picture to full screen.
She recognized the setting immediately. It was Hannah’s apartment. The angle at which the recording was taken suggested that the camera had been sitting on the bookshelf. Almost as if she’d had a baby-cam. Or a dog-cam. Hadn’t Hannah mentioned a few months earlier that she’d wanted to keep an eye on Frankenfurter during the day while she was out working? Had she bought a hidden camera to do just that?
Well, it didn’t matter. What mattered was what the video showed. There was no audio. Nevertheless, it was evident that the two men in Hannah’s living room were arguing. One of them was Ronny—she recognized him from the picture Blake had shown her. The other one stood with his back to the camera, preventing her from seeing his face.
Why had Hannah hidden this USB stick, when all it showed was her boyfriend arguing with another man? Without sound, she couldn’t even make out what they were fighting about. Maybe a lip reader could decipher some of the things Ronny was saying, but the other man’s replies remained unknown.
With a frustrated sigh, she focused on the video again, just as Ronny moved toward the door. The other man grabbed his shoulder, turning toward the camera and jerking him back. Now she could see both men’s faces. And
she recognized the other man now: it was the man who’d attacked her in Hannah’s apartment. Ronny and he knew each other!
She had to tell Blake. In her mind, this practically confirmed that Ronny and this stranger had something to do with Hannah’s disappearance.
She was about to jump up, when something on the screen drew her attention back to it. The two men glared at each other, their eyes like red beams.
“What the—” She choked on her next word. What was happening in front of her eyes wasn’t possible. No, she had to be hallucinating. She blinked, trying to clear her vision. What she was seeing was impossible, was against all laws of nature.
Ronny and the assailant were turning into creatures that couldn’t possibly exist: creatures with red glaring eyes and sharp white fangs that they flashed at each other in a show of aggression.
Vampires.
No. It couldn’t be.
She moved the progress bar back a few seconds to the point where the stranger grabbed Ronny’s shoulder and watched the entire sequence again, this time focusing on any inconsistencies in the video that might indicate that it had been manipulated. But it was seamless. These weren’t two videos that had been spliced together, no, this was one continuous recording.
Which could only mean one thing: the two men in the video were vampires. Real vampires.
Her heart beat into her throat, and her hands began to shake. This was what Hannah had been afraid of. She’d found out that her boyfriend was a vampire. And to protect his secret, he had…
“Oh God,” she murmured, slamming her hand over her mouth to stop herself from crying out, when a gasp behind her made her whirl around, sending her heartbeat into the stratosphere.
“Wesley,” she choked out.
But he wasn’t looking at her. He was staring straight past her at the screen. “Where did you get this?”
Automatically, she pointed to the ruined appointment book on the kitchen counter. “Hannah’s appointment book. She hid it in there.”