Enduring Service

by Regina Morris

  Dixon folded his hands across his chest and mentally brought up the time line. Sulie had raced to the hospital to deliver a baby, but the text to Raymond was at 3:14pm. She must have arrived at the hospital and immediately sent the message. Perhaps delivering another vampire baby reminded Sulie of her loneliness. Of course, a vampire man was needed for giving her children. A human man’s sperm couldn’t penetrate a vampire’s egg, even though vampire men had children with human women all the time.

  Dixon had not known of the Vampire Council’s barbaric marriage arrangements, but for a busy doctor who didn’t date, it made sense that Sulie would go down that route. He shuddered at the thought. How anyone could just blindly go into a marriage like that was beyond him. He had walked down the aisle a few times himself, but at least he had known the woman, not that they didn’t turn into control freaks who wanted to change him afterward.

  Sterling shook his head. “Another set of rounds has begun. No one you spoke with was working late last night, Alex.”

  “Check with off duty personnel, Alex. Anyone who worked on staff last night,” Raymond suggested. When they heard Alex hang up, he hung up the conference room phone on their end.

  Dixon took a deep breath and let the air out slowly. Finally, an idea struck him. “Babies are born all the time in cars. Maybe the family didn’t get to the hospital in time. The baby would have been admitted as a patient, not a live birth from a doctor at the hospital.”

  Raymond’s eyebrow rose and Ben reconnected with the hospital’s records. After some clicks on the keyboard, Ben announced, “No infants are registered under the age of one when she disappeared.” He then added, “There were also no stillbirths.”

  “Damn it!” Dixon’s fist slammed into the table. “Her car is in the parking garage. We know she came here at some point. What about video from the garage that may show her walking into an elevator or something?”

  “It will take me a while to stream the video feeds,” Ben said.

  Something nagged at Dixon about the timeline. Sulie had been slinging back scotches long before the birth of the baby yesterday. Something else triggered these events.

  Chapter Ten

  Dixon tapped his foot repeatedly as he sat in the hospital conference room waiting for the video feed. He wondered what Sulie was going through that she couldn’t share her pain with him.

  “I got the video feed from the parking garage.” Ben pulled up the video from the hospital database and displayed the footage on the large screen in the conference room. “Her car is parked on floor four.” He typed some more, “… and the videos are split into eight–hour segments. This one is from 12:00 pm–8:00 pm last night.”

  Dixon watched as Ben sped up the time index to where Sulie’s Porsche pulled into her parking spot. The video showed her parking the car and pausing inside the vehicle. Dixon realized she had spent a moment in the car to text Raymond about the arranged marriage. She then had exited the car and answered her phone — which must have been the mysterious phone call from the burner phone.

  Watching Sulie run towards the stairs, Ben switched the video feeds to each of the floors, one by one, and watched at the correct time index to see her. Once he had pulled up the ground floor, they found her once again as she ran towards a van.

  The team sat glued to the video as the man standing outside the van looked panicked. Sulie rushed past him and entered the van where a pregnant woman sat. Dixon’s eyes widened. The sounds of gasps from around the table became eerily audible as the team saw the man close the van door, trapping Sulie inside. The camera caught the van shake violently and Dixon could make out Sulie’s face as she had been slammed into the side window, with blood pouring down her forehead.

  Next, the video showed the van stop shaking and settle down. Dixon heard his own voice shout the word “No,” but it sounded surreal to him. He felt the pit of his stomach launch upward and settle in his throat. Looking to the vampires, he noticed their widened eyes and surprised looks of disbelief as they all took in the sight.

  “She’s not dead,” Dixon said. He bit his lip and made eye contact with Raymond. “She can’t be dead.”

  The seconds ticked on for minutes and then the van’s sliding door opened. Dixon held his breath and prayed Sulie would exit the van. The man who had pretended to be the expectant father emerged first, followed by a woman who obviously was not pregnant. The man’s scratched face bled streams of purple blood down his cheek. The woman’s torn, baggy dress and disheveled wig made her appear like a bag lady with a rat’s nest of hair. She pulled off the wig and threw it into the van as the man took some deep breaths and said something to her.

  Dixon jumped from his seat. “Hand. That’s a hand,” he exclaimed as he ran to the big screen. Ben rewound the footage and zoomed in. Over the next few seconds, the team perched in their seats as they confirmed that what Dixon saw was indeed Sulie’s hand. In the shadows of the van, they could just barely make out Sulie’s face on the floor.

  Alive. Not dust. Not dead. Alive.

  Dixon took a deep breath. He had not realized he had been holding it. He returned to his seat as the video footage continued, showing only a few scattered individuals walking through the garage paying no attention to the upheaval.

  The feed showed two men joining the original two from the van. One of the new arrivals then tied Sulie up and placed her in the back of the van. The team watched as Sulie’s unconscious body was thrown into the back like a tied up and gagged rag doll. Next, they put a medical freezer unit the second new arrival had been carrying in the back with her. All four then climbed into the van and drove out of the parking garage.

  Ben hit pause on the video.

  “Who the hell would do that to her?” Dixon asked of no one in particular.

  “Bring up the video again and zoom in on the faces,” Raymond said. As they reviewed the video, Raymond took a still shot of each face, as clear as the video could make them out. He next put the pictures through a face recognition algorithm against criminal, FBI, CIA, and the Vampire Council databases. Raymond glanced up from his computer screen and Dixon locked eyes with him. “This may take a while,” he said.

  Dixon sat perched on the edge of his seat. “She may not have very long. They could kill her.”

  Ben shook his head. “She’s still alive. If they wanted her dead, they would have killed her in that van. They took her somewhere for a reason.”

  “What about blood?” Dixon asked. “She could go for weeks without…”

  “Days,” Raymond said glumly.

  Dixon’s head turned towards his best friend. “But, Mason and Daniel keep their age as old as I am. They only feed every six weeks or so.”

  “Sulie has remained at her base age for a long time. Her body was always sated with blood. Her spleen is accustomed to processing blood as quickly as she drinks it — taking the blood from her digestive system to her circulatory system immediately without storing any of it.”

  “What does that mean?” Dixon asked.

  “She’s going to grow old fast,” Sterling answered.

  “Very fast,” Ben added.

  Dixon looked from vampire to vampire. Their grim expressions verified his darkest fears. “We need to know who these people are right now. Did a ransom note come?”

  “Not that I know of,” Sterling said.

  Ben shook his head when Dixon stared at him.

  “The clue is in who these people are and what they are doing,” Ben said, as he rewound the video feed once more. “There is something of importance in the big medical case one of the men is holding. Maybe an organ?”

  Dixon stared at the vampires on the screen. One held a medical briefcase.

  “Could be any type of tissue transportation unit.” Sterling slapped his hand on the conference room table in frustration. “Could be an organ, or a harmful bacteria to be unleashed on the human population, it could be blood, or anything!”

  “We can check medical records and see what biohazards w
ere being shipped out and if there is a missing container,” Ben offered as a desperate straw.

  Raymond’s eyes grew wide as he watched the video in slow motion. “Oh, my God!” He placed his hand over his mouth. “Rewind,” he said as he leaned in closer to the smart board. “That woman. I know who she is.” He sucked in a deep breath and stared directly at Sterling. “She was the midwife during your birth.”

  “What?” Sterling asked, taking a good look at the woman.

  Ben’s eyes darted over to Raymond. “That was a long time ago. Are you sure?”

  “The memory of the birth of my son and the death of my wife are burned into my memory. I’ll never forget her. Her hair is shorter, different style of clothes and makeup… but that is her.”

  “She’s a vampire.” Dixon said.

  “I had no idea. It occurred before my Jahrling Year. I couldn’t detect anyone as being a vampire.” Raymond studied the frozen face on the screen. “But she must be a vampire.”

  “Who is she?” asked Sterling.

  Blinking a few times, Raymond answered, “I thought only a midwife.”

  “Do you have a name?” Ben asked, but Raymond only shook his head.

  Ben unpaused the video feed and the team members watched again as Sulie was placed in the back of a van. Her hands were tied, and she was forced to wear a hood over her head.

  Ben stopped the video as the van moved out of camera range. “I’ll tap into the city street cams. We can trace where they went.” The process took a few minutes, but Ben eventually cracked into the security feeds. They watched as the van left the hospital and traveled down to the highway.

  They sped up the film, enabling them to view a two hour journey in a quick fifteen minutes. Dixon suspected the kidnappers feared Sulie would recognized smells and sounds from a town she had lived in for decades. They had backtracked and drove needlessly in circles, obviously to confuse her.

  The van eventually turned down some streets that had no cameras. “That’s as far as we can go, Raymond,” Ben apologized. “There is no more video footage to tap into.”

  “We know they traveled south and that’s a good lead.” He nodded nervously. “It’s a long shot, but the men’s faces are clearly shown. We may be able to get more information when the facial recognition software completes.” Raymond looked down at his computer and let out a frustrated sigh, suggesting the process may be a while.

  Dixon typed into his computer following a lead, but then frowned. “I just ran a check against the license plate and make of the van. It was reported stolen over a month ago. I’m afraid it’s a dead end.”

  “What was Sulie’s schedule for the day?” Sterling asked.

  Dixon scanned through Sulie’s online personal calendar. He’d inspected it over and over at least a dozen times already and found no clue about why anyone would have taken her. He shook his head, “Only routine stuff.”

  “They want her for something — something other than money because there’s no ransom note,” Sterling said.

  Raymond shook his head as he glanced over to his son. “Sterling, Sulie wasn’t there during your birth. She never met the midwife, so she may not be the target. She may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. They may not even know who she is, other than her being a doctor.”

  “All roads are leading towards this being deliberate and planned. I simply took the shortest route, Dad.”

  Dixon closed down the day planner and glanced at the group. “If the midwife wanted to find Sulie, I’m sure she could.” Dixon stood so he could pace across the floor. He needed to do something other than just sit — even if it meant wearing a hole in the carpet. “They asked over the phone if she was a vampire and she had said yes. Whether Sulie knew them, they knew her. So who the hell is this woman? What do they want with Sulie?” His hand raked through his white hair as he stared at Raymond for an answer.

  Dixon noticed Raymond rub his temple. Dixon figured Raymond’s ability to read minds and thought patterns must be heightened at the moment with so many emotions in this room. He watched as Raymond left the conference room with a grim look on his face.

  Chapter Eleven

  Dixon went with the team to Fang Manor to search for more clues. Sulie was a private person, never allowing anyone to enter her bedroom. But today, that was going to change. The mansion where they lived had three stories and Sulie’s bedroom was on the same level as the kitchen in the far northwest corner of the house on the first floor. Three of the walls of her room were painted pink, with the fourth one painted a darker raspberry. Mint green curtains hung in the dual windows with lace sheers. The decor reeked of dainty and feminine touches.

  The room sparkled with cleanliness and order with neither a single book, nor an article of clothing, lying in the wrong place. The team stared at one another as they stood in the room.

  “This is a lot of pink,” Sterling said. “Like a Barbie doll house.”

  Ben shook his head. “This isn’t what I would have expected.”

  From the hallway, Kate’s voice drifted into the room. “Is there any news on Sulie?” she asked as she rubbed her large pregnant belly and entered the room.

  “Nothing yet,” Sterling said, taking a step towards his wife. She stood a tall 5’ 7” and carried the twin babies low in her womb. Her dark brunette hair was pulled into a bun and Dixon thought she looked very maternal.

  “You should lay down and take it easy.” Sterling said. “You’re only five or six weeks away from delivering.”

  She patted his shoulder and gave him a wry smile. “I was heading upstairs to lay down. I wish I could do more to help.”

  “We’ll find her,” Sterling assured her, giving her belly a gentle rub.

  She turned and looked over to Dixon. “I didn’t realize you were here. I just finished some lunch and would have offered you something.”

  Dixon had barely heard his name but glanced over to Kate. All pregnant and nursing vampires ate human food and he appreciated the offer. But he couldn’t eat anything right now. “I’m fine. Thanks.”

  “Just don’t mess up her stuff. You know how she gets when she’s angry,” Raymond said as Kate turned and left the room.

  “If there is anything too personal for you guys, I can look at it,” Alex said. “She may feel better with another woman…”

  “No,” Raymond interrupted. “Nothing is too personal. We’re getting her back and every inch of this room is going to be turned inside out. Just put everything back, so when she returns everything will be as she likes it.” His voice trailed off and Dixon heard him choke out his words. Alex crossed the room and put her arms around her husband.

  “She’ll be back,” Alex said encouragingly.

  A moment later, Raymond broke the embrace and walked toward the closet. “I’ll search through the clothes she wore the last few days. Maybe she put something in a pants pocket or something that may give us a clue.” The hamper sat just inside the closet. He dug through it, taking each article of clothing out carefully.

  This was Dixon’s first time in Sulie’s room and he noticed items such as the lace doily on the furniture and other knick knacks Sulie had bought with him while they went antiquing over the years. He studied the room and noticed the lacy throw pillow which lay on the bed. He had given her the cushion as a birthday gift so long ago that he didn’t even remember when he had given it to her. The teddy bear he gave her last fall when they went to a nearby carnival was lying on the pillow. He surveyed the room and noticed many trinkets he’d given her over the years. Some seemed worthy of keeping in his mind; others, like the program to the ballet performance they attended five years ago, were not. The program hung framed on the wall. The booklet was an odd shape which wouldn’t fit in a conventional frame. Dixon had originally offered to make a frame for the program, but, of course, Sulie refused the help and did the job herself. She was always independent that way.

  Under the framed program sat a small bookshelf. Dixon noticed Ben carefully p
ulling out each book and thumbing through the pages of each one. Poetry. Sulie was a sucker for poetry and many of the books held some of her favorite poems — many of them love poems.

  Dixon looked away and watched as Raymond searched through Sulie’s clothing from her hamper. Dixon had seen her in those clothes over the last week during their shopping errands, during their lunches and dinners where he was the only one eating, and during last week’s poker game when she made him nachos. She had run out of sour cream for the nachos and thought mayonnaise was a good substitute. All food tasted like sawdust to Sulie and she didn’t know any better when it came to cooking what foods went together and which ones did not. Dixon ate the nachos anyway because he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. He just scraped the mayo off.

  As Raymond held up a pair of jeans and inspected the pockets. Dixon saw the salsa stain on them, the one he caused as he and Sulie laughed together in the kitchen the night of the nacho fiasco. He forced himself to turn away. He needed to focus on another area of the room and concentrate on finding her.

  He gazed over Sulie’s writing desk and found nothing out of place. Not even dust had settled on the furniture. He picked up a framed picture of the Colony team. The picture was one of the few pictures the Colony members had taken together. Thanks to digital photography their images were no longer blurry on camera. All of them had consumed enough blood to bring them to their Jahrling Year age, even Mason, who worked as a double for the president. It was a good picture of them all, with Dixon being the lone old fogie in the mix. Putting the picture back down, he realized that since several of the Colony members were married and had or were having children, that another picture needed to be taken. Dixon winced at the thought. A new picture would be nice, but perhaps he shouldn’t be in it. By the time Sterling’s twins were born, he’d be retired — his mind wiped.