Seduced by the Night (25 page)

Lanie
flashed her a smile. "T
hank
s, I'd appreciate it."

"Where have you looked so far?"

"I've checked the study, the living room, and the kitchen. She's not in my room and there's no way she'd go to Dirk's room."

"Why's that?" Bethany asked out of curiosity.

"She looks too much like the adult who attacked him,"
Lanie
said as they walked down the hall to check some of the other rooms. "He kicks her out whenever she wanders in by mistake."

"But Mac's okay being around her?"

"That's a little different. Even though the adult attacked Mac, when Burton almost killed me, it was Gem who saved my life. Mac swore then to always take care of her."

They'd reached the room where she and Dirk had watched TV, and the conversation came to a halt as they searched it. It took time because they couldn't do just a cursory look around. They had to explore every possible nook and cranny, wherever a playful creature might hide.

After they concluded that she wasn't in the den, they moved to the next room. Four rooms later, they still hadn't found her. By now, Bethany knew
Lanie
was seriously worried about the little creature.

Going into the kitchen for lunch, they were sitting at the table, picking over their food, when Julia walked in. She took one look at their faces and her own became concerned. "Something's wrong." It was a statement more than a question.

Bethany wasn't sure
Lanie
would say anything to the woman, so she did. "I'm afraid that the gargoyle statue is missing. It's kind of a long, complicated story that I'm not at liberty to share, but it has great sentimental value and it seems to be missing. Have you seen it?"

For a moment Bethany thought Julia might know something. Her eyes grew wide and though she was too refined to let her jaw hang open, Bethany got the impression she was nevertheless dumbfounded. "I… I," she swallowed. "No. Are you sure you looked everywhere?"

"Not yet,"
Lanie
admitted, her voice sounding resigned. "I guess I'll have to go through the rest of the rooms in the west wing." She pushed away from the table, leaving her food untouched. "I think I'll keep looking."

Bethany started to stand when
Lanie
waved her back. "I know you have better things to do. I'm okay looking by myself, t
hank
s. There's no real urgency until nightfall." She gave Bethany a meaningful look. "Then I'll have to ask Mac and Dirk for help."

"Are you sure, because I don't mind helping," Bethany said.

"Yes, t
hank
s. I'm sure."

Bethany watched her walk out of the room. Julia now seemed preoccupied so Bethany finished eating lunch. She really needed to talk to Miles.

"I have to run into town for a bit," Julia announced suddenly.

Bethany jumped at the opportunity. "Would you mind if I went along? I need to do some work at the lab."

At first she thought Julia might say no, but then the woman smiled. "Of course not. I'll drop you off. Let me make a quick phone call and then we can be on our way."

Julia left the kitchen and hurried to the study where she closed the door. Her heart was racing and she fought to stay calm. What had she done? What had she been thinking? Of course they wouldn't throw away the statue. How idiotic of her to think otherwise.

She knew
Lanie
wouldn't find the statue in the west wing. In fact,
Lanie
wouldn't find the statue anywhere on the premises because the trash collectors had come earlier that morning.

Picking up the phone, she called the number for the waste management company. It took the better part of ten minutes, but she finally got the information she needed. Grabbing her purse, she went back into the kitchen to find Bethany waiting for her.

"Ready?"

Bethany nodded, and for a brief second, Julia was tempted to tell her what had happened. Then she thought better of it.

Forty minutes later, Bethany climbed out of Julia's car and watched the woman drive off. She knew there was something troubling her, but Julia hadn't shared and Bethany hadn't pried.

As the car disappeared from sight, Bethany hurried toward the front entrance of the Van Home building, constantly scanning her surroundings as she went. She remembered what Dirk had told her about vampires hiring humans to help them during the day, but thought if she remained alert, she'd be okay. She was almost to the door when she saw a familiar-looking man walking out. It took her a minute to remember where she'd seen him, but it finally hit her. It was the same man she'd overheard talking to Miles; the one with the orange hair.

Hurrying past him, she went to her lab, picked up the phone, and
dialed
Miles's
office, only to be told by the secretary that he was in a meeting. After getting the secretary's agreement to call her when Miles was free, Bethany put on a pot of coffee and, while it brewed, reviewed her notes up to this point. She couldn't help the sense of urgency pushing her to hurry. The one lesson she'd learned was that she absolutely didn't want to be at the lab after dark.

Going to the refrigerator, she pulled out the last batch of synthetic extract that she'd made and carried it to the table. About to pick up a tube to examine under the microscope, she hesitated, hand suspended over the rack as she did a quick count. Nine tubes, which meant three were missing. She counted again and came up with the same results.

Going back to the refrigerator, she checked inside, wondering if the missing vials had fallen out or gotten misplaced. She went back to her notes from the night before, in case she'd used more of the synthetic than she could recall. She hadn't.

The ringing phone startled her and she hurried to answer it.

"He can see you now,"
Miles's
secretary informed her.

Promising to be right down, Bethany put the vials back in the fridge and walked out.

"Bethany, this is an unexpected surprise," Miles said a few minutes later as she entered his office. "Are you alone?"

She ignored the question. "I think we should talk."

"Of course. Let's sit down." He led her to the sofa off to one side of his office and sat beside her. Being alone with him now felt awkward. It more or less confirmed her suspicion that it would be difficult to continue working for Van Home Technologies.

"I wanted to talk to you about the plant extract."

"Okay."

"I created a nearly perfect synthetic replica days ago but there's an element in the original sample that eludes me. I'm afraid that until I can figure out what it is, the synthetics are unstable. The chemical bonds won't hold  them together and the resulting elements could be very dangerous."

"I'm not sure I follow," he said.

"It's sort of like table salt," she explained, "only on a more complex scale. When sodium and chlorine are chemically bound together, they make table salt, completely palatable. But if that chemical bond breaks, we end up with sodium, which is a volatile explosive, and chlorine, which is a poisonous gas—neither of which is particularly healthy to ingest."

Miles's
brow furrowed but he didn't say anything.

"I want to know what you're planning to do with the extract if I succeed in duplicating it." She kept her gaze level and steady, willing him to take her seriously. "I know about Mr.
Santi
."

"You do?" She could tell the news caught him off guard.

She nodded. "Yes. I came up here to talk to you the other day and he was in your office. The door was open and I overheard your conversation."

His eyes narrowed as he studied her. "What, exactly, did you hear?"

She was skating on thin ice and debated how much further she could bluff her way through the conversation because she hadn't actually heard that much. "Enough to know that you've got a deal with him to distribute the drug."

Miles nodded solemnly. "Yes, that's true—and you're afraid that I'm doing something illegal?"

She nodded. "I don't want to see anything bad happen to you."

Something flashed across his eyes that she couldn't interpret, but then he smiled, taking her hand in his. "I'm very fortunate to have someone who cares about me. As a matter of fact, I
am
trying to work out a deal with Mr.
Santi
, but it's all perfectly legitimate. You see, Mr.
Santi
is with
Burkford
Pharmaceuticals."

"He is?"

He nodded. "It's a relatively new company that deals in herbal-based remedies. Because they're still starting up, they have to outsource much of their baseline research on new drugs. All strictly on the up and up, I assure you."

A smile spread across Bethany's face as she digested what he'd told her. "Oh, I'm so relieved to hear that. I can't tell you the things I imagined." She wanted to laugh at her own foolishness. "Mr.
Santi
doesn't look like your typical drug rep—I'm afraid I assumed the worst." She sobered as she saw
Miles's
understanding expression. "I'm afraid that I thought the worst of you, too. I'm sorry."

He patted her hand. "I can't have you thinking I'm a saint in all of this," he replied. "The truth is that
Burkford
Pharmaceuticals is paying Van Home Technologies a hefty fee to analyze the extract."

"But they're paying it over the table," she said.

"Yes." For several moments, he gazed at her, and then something in his eyes changed. "I know I saw you last night, but I miss you."

In that moment, she knew that she could tell him that she'd changed her mind and he'd take her back. Things could return to the way they'd been before Dirk and the vampires. For the briefest moment, it was tempting, but then she knew she wouldn't do it. "Miles, I—"

"Please, don't say it," he interrupted her. "Hearing it once last night was enough. I don't think I can handle a  second rejection in so many days." The smile he gave her was bittersweet. "I'm glad you came to see me. Like I said before, it's nice to know you still care."

"I'll always care," she said, meaning every word. Feeling uncomfortable once again, she knew that she couldn't leave until she took care of one more thing. Reaching into the pocket of her lab coat, she pulled out the small
jewelry
box and held it up, watching his face. He had the decency to look abashed. "I think you forgot this last night," she said.

He reached out and took it from her. "I was hoping that when you found it, you might have second thoughts."

"I'm sorry, Miles. I won't change my mind."

He nodded, and watching him place the ring into his pocket, she hoped she wouldn't see it again.

"I need to get back to work," she told him. They both stood up and he walked her to the door. They had almost reached it when she thought of something else. "The wedding announcement."

"What about it? Oh, yes. Sorry. I'll take care of it."

She smiled. "T
hank
s, Miles."

She left, feeling better about one part of her life. She might be fighting with Dirk and vampires might still be after her, but at least now she didn't have to worry about Miles going to jail because he was doing something illegal.

Returning to her lab, Bethany set to work. She was determined to finish before darkness fell and resigned herself to spending at least one more night in the safety of the mansion. Tomorrow, when the sun came up, she would leave.

Julia tried to keep her eyes on the road as she drove. Charles would be so disappointed with her if he knew what she'd done. Not
if
, she amended the thought. When. She had every intention of confessing, but first wanted to see if she could make things right.

Thirty minutes later, Julia stood at the foot of almost an acre of garbage, thinking that she'd seriously underestimated the task at hand. Searching the
dutnpsite
was not only going to take a long time, it promised to be extremely unpleasant. If the rancid odor was anything to judge by, there could very well be a dozen rotting bodies in there, along with other things she didn't want to consider.

Resigning herself to the inevitable, she heaved a sigh and then immediately regretted it as she gasped for clean, odor-free air.

"Well, Julia, putting it off won't make it easier," she told herself. "Best get to it."

After dropping off Bethany earlier, she'd stopped at the first hardware store she came to and purchased a set of coveralls, rubber boots, and a box of gloves. Then she'd driven to the address she'd been given by the city clerk. Now, decked out in her new purchases, she set to work.

Initially, she found sifting through the trash educational—both in terms of what people threw out and in discovering her gag threshold. As with so many things, success was dependent on how disciplined one's mind was. It also helped that Julia was looking for something big, allowing her to skip over the many small, less pleasant items.

The first section she searched proved to be disappointing, so she moved to another section where her efforts were no more fruitful. Still, she persevered, moving to another part of the massive dumpsite. By the end of the day, Julia was tired, depressed, and had nothing to show for  her efforts except a stench she hoped wasn't permanent. A small part of her worried that somewhere along the route, either the garbage collectors or someone else had spotted the statue among the rest of the trash, liked it, and now had it in their possession. If that was the case, then she would never see it again.