Secret Life Of A Vampire (16 page)

“Don't worry,” LaToya said. “I wrote your name at the top of everything so the detectives would know that you'd done all the work.”

“But I—”

“The guys were really pissed at first 'cause we weren't supposed to be doing it,” LaToya continued, her words rushing out with excitement. “But when they realized you'd uncovered a serial kidnapper, they got real excited. They showed it to our captain, and he called your captain. Then they got together and called the police chief and the FBI!”

“Oh shit,” Lara breathed.

“They're putting together a task force, 'cause it looks like this Apollo dude has kidnapped at least ten women from four different states. How did you find all that information so fast?”

Lara groaned. “I didn't.”

“What do you mean? I heard you working last night. That damned printer is too loud.”

“I didn't do it. Jack did.”

“Oh. Damn.” LaToya lowered her voice. “I sorta told everyone that you did it.”

Lara sighed. “I can't take credit for Jack's work.”

“Fine. You want to explain who Jack is to the police chief and the FBI?”

Lara winced.

“I think you should stop seeing that guy,” LaToya said. “He's too strange.”

Lara gritted her teeth. “That would really be ungrateful. He spent hours compiling all that information.”

“Yeah, but he's got your mind messed up, girl. You're acting like the police don't have a right to this case, when it's Jack who's butting in where he doesn't belong. What's in it for him, anyway?”

Lara didn't know how to answer that. Why was Jack so interested in this case? If Apollo and Jack had similar mind control abilities, what else did they have in common?

“There's something really suspicious about him,” LaToya muttered.

“Please don't tell anyone about him. I'm serious. Please.” Lara had promised Jack that she wouldn't tell anyone about him or his friends.

LaToya paused, then whispered, “You know the truth about him, don't you?”

“Not really.” Other than her theory that he was the son of Casanova and some kind of mutated human with supernatural powers. If she told her superiors that, they'd lock her up and lose the key.

“Why do I get the feeling you're not telling me something?”

Lara sighed. She was in the same predicament as
Jack—having to decide between him and her friends. “Jack did all that work just to help us. I don't want to cause him any trouble.”

There was another pause. “Okay, then. If Jack's out of the picture, then you'll have to be the hero. I bet they make you a detective soon.”

That was good news. It had been Lara's goal for the last six years. She'd wanted to put the pageant days behind her and do something meaningful with her life. Catching the bad guys and protecting the innocent—that had seemed like the most heroic thing she could do with her life.

No wonder she was so attracted to Jack. His goal was the same as hers. And whereas she aspired to be a regular hero, he was a superhero.

“Hang on a sec. Someone's at the door,” LaToya said, and Lara heard mumbled voices. “Yes, sir. I'll tell her right away. Lara, you still there?”

“Yes.”

“Get your ass into uniform quick,” LaToya said. “A patrol car will be picking you up in ten minutes. The task force wants to see you.”

Close to an hour later, Lara entered the precinct at Morningside Heights. As a sergeant led her through a sea of desks, dozens of heads turned to look at her. LaToya waved from across the room and gave her a thumbs-up.

“Boucher.” Captain O'Brian from her precinct at Midtown North greeted her on the way to the conference room. “You've been briefed?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You were told to take a week off after the Trent incident, and yet, you and Officer LaFayette took it upon yourselves to investigate a case you were not assigned to.”

Lara swallowed hard. She hoped LaToya wasn't in trouble. “Yes, sir.”

Captain O'Brian regarded her sternly. “It would appear the community will benefit from your utter disregard for the rules and your inability to grasp the concept of time off. Brilliant detective work, Butch.”

Her cheeks warmed with a blush. She hated taking credit for Jack's hard work.

“They're waiting inside for you,” the captain continued. “I told them you could do this, Butch. Don't let me down.”

Do what? “Yes, sir.”

Captain O'Brian opened the conference-room door and ushered her inside. At the sight of the police chief, Lara came to attention. There were five men at the table, all of them studying her silently. Captain O'Brian introduced them. Other than the police chief, there was the captain of this precinct, one of the NYPD case detectives, and two special agents from the FBI.

“At ease, Officer,” the police chief said. He thumbed through some papers on the table in front of him. “Let's see, you graduated from our academy six months ago, and you were assigned to the night shift out of Midtown North.”

“Yes, sir.”

The chief turned to the special agents from the FBI. “What do you think?”

The one in the gray suit motioned to the Apollo papers on the table. “She's a good detective. She was able to uncover information that the case detectives didn't find.”

The NYPD detective stiffened. “I interviewed those college girls myself. They didn't say a word about Apollo or this seminar.”

“Maybe they were more comfortable talking to a female officer,” the second special agent suggested. “But the real question is, how will she perform in the field?”

“She does just fine,” Captain O'Brian said. “Just a week ago, she subdued an armed man in a domestic dispute. He had shot and wounded her partner.”

“She has the right look.” The gray-suited FBI man motioned to the photos of Apollo's victims. “She has the right hair color, and she looks young enough to pass for a college student.”

“Excellent.” The police chief rubbed his hands together and regarded Lara grimly. “What do you say, Officer Boucher, to an undercover assignment?”

Lara swallowed hard. They wanted to use her as bait. Her mind raced. They were correct that she had the right look. What they didn't know, and what wasn't in those papers, was the fact that Apollo used mind control to abduct his victims and cover his tracks. She was immune to Jack's mind control, so hopefully, she would also be immune to Apollo's. If she was able to keep her wits about her, she could probably manage this.

She cleared her throat. “You want me to pose as a college student to help you locate Apollo when he comes on campus to do his seminar?”

“There's no law against him conducting a seminar,” the NYPD detective said. “We need to know where he's taking the girls. Only then will we have the evidence we need to make an arrest.”

“Exactly,” the gray-suited FBI man agreed. “Officer Boucher, you'll have to let Apollo kidnap you.”

Lara gulped. What would she do if he physically restrained her? What if he tried to rape her… or kill her? Maybe she should let a female officer with more experience do this. But what if that woman succumbed to
Apollo's mind control? She would have a worse chance of survival than Lara. And if she was murdered, how could Lara live with that? And how could she refuse this job and do nothing, when Apollo continued to kidnap a new girl every month? She drew in a deep, shaky breath. “I'll do it.”

“Are you crazy, girl?” LaToya demanded after she arrived home that evening.

“Don't fuss at me.” Lara spooned chicken and sausage jambalaya onto two plates. After an hour of discussing her dangerous mission in the conference room, she'd come home frazzled. She'd decided to cook to calm herself down. “I wouldn't be in this fix if you hadn't swiped that Apollo file.”

LaToya huffed. “You know we had to show it to them. Believe me, we would have been in a lot more trouble if we'd sat on that information for days before passing it on.”

Lara winced. “Are you in trouble?”

LaToya shrugged, then retrieved a bottle of wine from the fridge. “They slapped me with one hand and patted me on the back with the other. They can't decide whether to be pissed or proud.”

“Yeah, I got the some sort of thing.” Lara set the plates on the table.

LaToya poured them two glasses of wine. “So you're really going to let that Apollo dude kidnap you?”

Lara sighed, wondering for the millionth time if she was making a huge mistake. A part of her wished LaToya had never taken the information. Then she could have continued working with Jack. But another part of her was ashamed. Those poor kidnapped girls were in danger, and here she was, hoping to use their sad circumstance as an excuse to keep seeing Jack. Why didn't she just face it? The relationship with Jack was doomed.

The timer on the oven dinged, interrupting her thoughts. The cornbread was ready.

“Well?” LaToya set the wineglasses on the table. “Are you going to do it?”

“Yes.” Lara set the pan of cornbread on the stove and removed her oven mitts. “Those girls need help. I just hope they're still alive.”

“Yeah, me, too.” LaToya gave her a worried look. “You could have refused, you know.”

“I'll be all right.” Lara cut two pieces of cornbread and put them on saucers. “They're going to put some kind of tracking device on me. The minute I arrive at Apollo's so-called resort, they'll swoop in and arrest him. It should be very quick and easy.”

“That's what they always say.” LaToya retrieved the butter dish from the fridge.

Lara brought their cornbread to the table. “I have a secret weapon, remember? I'm immune to mind control.”

“Yeah, that's good.” But LaToya still looked worried as she sat and smeared butter on her cornbread. “I—I
may have been wrong when I told you not to see Jack anymore.”

“You've decided he's okay now?” Lara gave her a wry look as she sat down.

LaToya shrugged. “I don't know what to think about him. He's suspicious as hell, but he does have some superpowers, and right now, I'm thinking it would be a good thing for you to have a superhero in your pocket.”

Or in her pants. Lara squashed that errant thought. Her whole body just wanted to droop onto the floor. “I don't think there's any future for me and Jack.”

LaToya stopped eating to look at her. “Why not?”

She sighed. “It's hard to explain.”

“Oh shit. He's really an alien?”

A sorry excuse for a laugh escaped Lara. “I don't know what he is. He refuses to talk to me.”

“A man who has trouble communicating.” LaToya sipped some wine. “Now there's something completely different.”

Lara made a face at her. “I can't get more involved with him when he won't talk to me.”

“Does he treat you right?”

“Oh yeah.” Lara drank some wine.

“Is he good in bed?”

She sputtered, and her eyes watered.

LaToya grinned. “I'll take that as a yes.”

“We haven't… well, we sorta, but… okay, I would say yes.” Lara's face flooded with heat.

LaToya snickered. “Then what's the problem?”

“There's more to life than good… great sex.”

“Now I'm really worried about you.”

“It's not funny, LaToya. My heart is breaking here. He says he loves me, but he won't trust me with the truth.”

LaToya's brown eyes widened. “He says he loves you?”

Lara gulped down some wine. She hadn't meant for that to slip out.

“How do you feel about him?” LaToya asked.

She set the glass down. “Our food's getting cold.” She rammed some cornbread into her mouth.

“You're in denial,” LaToya announced.

Lara scowled at her, then swallowed down her food. “Right now, denial is my best friend. I'm not going to admit I'm in love with someone when the relationship is doomed.”

“Didn't you just admit it?”

“And I'm not going to admit that I just agreed to an undercover assignment that could get me killed!”

LaToya sucked in a breath. “Take that back. Don't put those bad vibes on this. You'll make it through just fine. I know you will.”

Lara took a deep breath. Her friend was right. She needed to keep a positive attitude. “It'll be all right. They'll be able to trace me.” She wouldn't really be alone. She would survive this.

An hour later, LaToya left to go bowling with some friends from her precinct. Lara declined LaToya's invitation to join them, claiming she was too tired. Who was she kidding? She was hoping Jack would call.

She sat on the couch, flipping through channels on the television. She really ought to study the Apollo information on her computer, but she didn't want to think about it anymore. It would only make her more nervous, more worried that she was making a big mistake.

She wished she was back in Venice with Jack, floating down a canal without a worry in the world. But there was no such thing as a worry-free life. Even Jack had her confused and frustrated. If Casanova was his father, that would make Jack over two hundred years old. Was he aging super slowly, or was he stuck looking young and gorgeous for all time? Either way, it didn't look good for a lasting relationship.

She landed on a channel that showed a young woman in a white nightgown wandering around a dark, spooky house. She was carrying a lit candlestick, so apparently, the electricity was out. She gazed up a dark staircase that led to the attic, and thunder boomed. Creepy music swelled.

“Don't go up there,” Lara told her.

She started up the stairs.

“Moron,” Lara muttered and changed the channel.

A guy in a ski mask was chasing a girl who was running across the lawn. For some strange reason, she was in her underwear. The psycho killer waved a machete in the air. The girl looked back, then tripped and fell on her face.

“Get up, you idiot,” Lara grumbled. “Run for your life.”

The girl stayed on the ground and screamed. Great. This was encouraging. Lara changed the channel again. Was she being an idiot, too?

The phone rang, and her breath hitched. Please be Jack. No, don't be Jack. Dammit, she was an idiot.

After Jack woke up Tuesday night, he dashed upstairs to the fifth-floor office of the townhouse and chugged down some synthetic blood while he checked his messages. Lara hadn't called. Mario had sent him an e-mail to let him know that Father Giuseppe had found Lara's belt and delivered it to the palazzo that morning. The priest had also left a warning that he'd use the belt on Giacomo's hide if he didn't behave himself.

Jack sighed. The date had ended badly. Instead of drawing Lara closer, he'd managed to chase her away. He showered, dressed, then teleported to Venezia to fetch the belt. From there, he teleported to the grounds at Romatech. He looked around as he approached the side entrance. He swiped his ID card, then placed his hand on the sensor.

“Hey, bro,” a voice spoke behind him.

He spun around to find Phineas. The young Vamp must have just teleported there. “Merda.”

“Well, good evening to you, too,” Phineas muttered. “We didn't see you at the townhouse.”

“I had an errand to take care of. And I've just realized if a Malcontent timed it right, he could arrive like you did and take me by surprise.” Jack motioned to the green light now blinking on the security pad. “You could have jumped me from behind and gained entrance.”

Phineas frowned as he pushed open the door. “Howard would see it on the monitor and set off the alarm.”

“True.” Jack strode down the hall toward the MacKay security office. “Still, after Connor arrives, I'd like to have a meeting to discuss ways we can improve security here. We killed a dozen Malcontents last December at DVN. Sooner or later, Casimir is going to seek revenge.”

“Yeah,” Phineas agreed. “Those nasty vampires keep coming back.” He glanced at the belt in Jack's hand. “Dude, you're not planning to wear that, are you? It's bad enough when some of the guys wear skirts, but a white belt—that's just not cool, man.”

“It's not mine.” Jack wound it up and stuffed it into a jacket pocket.

“Ooh, I see.” Phineas's eyes lit up. “It's your lady's
belt. I guess your date last night was a big success. So did you do a little bondage?”

“Excuse me?”

“You know, tie her up with the belt. Or maybe you used it for a little spanking.”

Jack stiffened. “I would never spank Lara.”

Phineas rolled his eyes. “Dude, you let the lady spank you. Believe me, the chicks really get into that.”

“She probably thinks I deserve it,” Jack muttered.

“Yeah.” Phineas nodded. “That's what they always say to me. I'm an expert on these things, you know. But I figure you're the last person on earth who needs professional advice from the Love Doctor.”

“Why is that?” Jack stopped in front of the security office.

Phineas snorted. “Dude, you're the son of Casanova. Seduction is your middle name. I saw you at the Gala Ball, sweet-talking all the ladies. You could have had any one you wanted. In fact, I bet you did have them all.”

Jack groaned inwardly. Why did people always assume he had inherited some special talent from his father? All he'd inherited was a name that was such a curse, he'd stopped using it almost two hundred years ago. “I only danced with the ladies.”

“Yeah, right. The horizontal mambo. I bet you were born with a condom on,” Phineas continued. “A man like you could have any woman he wants.”

But he only wanted Lara. “I don't want to lose her.”

“What?”

“Nothing.” Jack swiped his ID card in the keypad outside the security office.

Phineas leaned a shoulder against the wall. “Dude, what's wrong?”

“It's complicated.”

“Love shouldn't be complicated, bro.”

“It is when it's between a vampire and a mortal.”

Phineas frowned. “Does she know you're a vampire?”

“No,” Jack answered quickly. “I haven't told her anything. You and Connor can rest easy.”

“Yeah, Connor's real touchy about keeping the big secret.” Phineas rubbed his chin. “I gotta be honest with you, man. A little free advice from Dr. Phang.”

“I'm not going to tie her up or spank her.”

Phineas snorted. “I'm being serious now. If you love her, you gotta tell her the truth. You gotta make it real.”

Jack swallowed hard. Lara kept asking him to tell her the truth. But what if she couldn't handle it? The women in his past had freaked out. He'd been able to erase their memories, but he couldn't do that with Lara. What if she lived the rest of her life remembering him with revulsion?

On the other hand, what if she was able to accept him? What if he'd finally found the amove that had evaded him for centuries? How glorious it would be to spend the rest of his life with Lara.

The door opened, and Howard peered at them curiously. “What's going on? You guys have been standing here for five minutes.”

“Just talking, Papa Bear,” Phineas said. “I'll go make the first round.”

“Okay,” Jack said. “And… thank you.”

“Anytime, bro.” Phineas zoomed back down the hall to the side entrance.

“Howard, can you stay till Connor arrives?” Jack asked. “I need to run an errand.”

“Sure.” Howard headed back to the desk. “I'll call the cafeteria and have them deliver my supper here.”

Jack smiled. As long as were-bear Howard Barr was well fed, he stayed happy. “Thanks.”

Jack hurried into the conference room across the hall and shut the door. He paced around the long table. Once he returned Lara's belt to her, what would he say? From the beginning he'd equated telling her the truth with losing her. But now, he realized he could lose her if he didn't tell her the truth.

Father Giuseppe, Gianetta, and Phineas all wanted him to tell her. Connor was strongly opposed to it. Angus had ordered him not to. What did he want to do?

He wanted her to love him. What if she hated him once she knew he was a Vamp? Jack took a deep breath. It was a chance he would have to take. There was no way to undo his status. She could either accept him as he was—or she couldn't. You must have faith, Giacomo.

Merda. Wasn't there a circle of hell for faithless bastards like himself? He made the call.

On the fourth ring, she picked up. “Hello?” She sounded hesitant.

“Hello, Lara. How are you?”

“I'm okay.”

“I have your belt. I could return it to you now.”

“There's… no hurry.”

Was she reluctant to see him, or was this a bad time? He didn't want anyone else to see him teleport. “Are you alone?”

“I need to talk to you about the Apollo case,” she said.

“We can work on it tonight, if you like,” he offered. “I can teleport there and bring you back here to Romatech where I have all the information.”

“I have the info here. I e-mailed it to myself.”

“Oh.” He had a bad feeling about this.

“I really appreciate all the work you did. We passed the info on to our superiors—”

“What?”

“We had to, Jack. We can't withhold evidence. And the minute Apollo started kidnapping girls across state lines, it became a matter for the FBI.”

Nine circles of hell! Jack gripped the phone in his fist and paced around the table. “You shouldn't have done that. We were working on it together. We were making good progress.”

“I know. I'm sorry, Jack, but it's not in your jurisdiction.”

The hell it wasn't. This was a Malcontent crime, and it needed to be handled by Vamps. “How many people know?”

“Lots of people. The FBI and NYPD have set up a joint task force—”

“Merda!” He couldn't let them find Apollo first. The whole vampire world was in jeopardy. He couldn't believe Lara had done this. He stopped and leaned his elbows on the back of a chair. “I trusted you.”