Seduced by the Night (35 page)

Dirk peeled off the gloves he'd used to examine the body and stood up. "I think we both know the answer to that. The question is—what's the message?"

"Maybe they gave up trying to kidnap the
fiancee
and are going for Van Home himself."

"But why? That doesn't make sense. Van Home may own and run a research firm, but he's no biochemist."

"Maybe they were never after a biochemist. Which reminds me, we found Stuart Meyers's body."

"You did?"

"Yeah, earlier today. Same M.O., more or less. Looked like he'd been dead longer, though. Some of his extremities had withered and dried—I've never seen anything like it. The body's at the morgue if you want to swing by and look at it."

Dirk nodded. "I will." He glanced up at the detective. "You mind if I have a few more minutes alone here?"

"Suit yourself."
John
shrugged. "We're done."

Dirk waited until he walked off before pulling out the small wood stake he'd put in his pocket. He kept a supply of them in his SUV for just such emergencies. He lifted the victim's shirt so he had a clear view of the man's chest and drove the wood deep into the dead man's heart. It would have been difficult to do if he'd been only human, but he wasn't. He would have preferred to haul the body back to the mansion and decapitate it, but too many people had seen this one for it to just disappear. He'd have to be satisfied with staking it. He took some small solace from knowing that the creatures he'd staked the other night at
Nicolette's
hadn't risen after being stabbed through the heart.

Finished with that chore, he turned his thoughts to Miles. It made no sense that the vampires were now targeting the man and Dirk couldn't help but wonder if there was something he was overlooking. Still troubled, he walked into
Miles's
apartment to find the detective.

"Still no sign of Van Home,"
John
informed him, closing his cell phone.

Dirk thought about it. "I'll stay here and wait for him, in case someone shows up to deliver another message."

John
thought about it, then nodded. "Okay. I guess we're done. I'll give the master key back to the manager. Be sure to lock up after we leave—and call if Van Home— or anyone else—shows up."

Bethany sat at the kitchen table, absently playing with her cup of coffee as she worried about what Dirk was doing.

"He'll be okay."

Bethany stared at the admiral blankly, so focused on her thoughts that his words didn't, at first, register. Then she nodded. "I know."

Just then, Mac and
Lanie
came walking in.

"Where have you two been?" Julia asked.

"We went to dinner and then for a walk,"
Lanie
answered as they joined the others at the table.

"Really? Where'd you go?" the admiral asked, politely interested.

"The zoo."

Julia looked confused. "It's after hours, isn't it closed?"

"Yes, that's why we went."
Lanie
dug in her purse and pulled out a folded newspaper. "I found this story in today's paper, see?" She held the paper out so Julia and the admiral could read the article she indicated. "Several goats at the petting zoo were found dead this morning.

You can see from the picture here that it looks like they were bitten on the neck. I wondered…"

As
Lanie
went on, Bethany's thoughts returned to Dirk. She stared absently at the back of the newspaper until something about a photo there caught her attention. The orange color of the man's hair stood out, making it easy to identify Mr.
Santi
.

Curious what the story was about, she stared at the upside-down caption until she made out the words. Trepidation filled her. "May I see that?" she asked
Lanie
, already reaching out for the paper.

"Uh, sure,"
Lanie
said, handing it to her. "Is everything all right?"

"I'm not sure." Bethany read the article. Juan
Santi
, second in command of one of the largest East Coast drug rings, was dead of a gunshot wound sustained during a drug deal gone bad, the police believed.

"Bethany, what's the matter?"

Feeling dazed, Bethany showed the article and photo to the others. 'This is the drug rep Miles has been doing business with. He must have lied to Miles about who he worked for."

She pushed away from the table and hurried to the phone. "Miles has no idea what he's involved in." Quickly
dialing
Miles' cell phone number, she waited for him to answer, which he did on the third ring.

"Miles, it's Bethany."

"What's the matter, you sound upset?" He paused. "Does this have anything to do with earlier, because I don't know what Adams may have told you, but—"

"No, no. It doesn't have anything to do with Dirk. Where are you? Are you safe?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Where are you?"

"I'm just walking into my apartment building, why?" He sounded confused.

"Have you seen today's paper?"

"No, not yet. I thought I might look at it tonight."

"Well, there's a story in there about Mr.
Santi
."

"Really?" He didn't sound particularly upset.

"Miles, he's dead. Mr.
Santi
is dead—and that's not the worst of it. He was a major drug dealer."

There was silence on the other end, then she heard Miles swear softly. "How was he killed?"

"He was shot. The police think it was a drug deal gone bad." She thought she heard
Miles's
sigh of relief and worried that he wasn't taking this seriously. "If the murderers know you were helping him develop a new drug, even if you did it unknowingly, you could be in trouble, too."

"Calm down, Bethany, everything will be fine. Look, I'm at my apartment. Hang on while I unlock my door. Then we can finish discussing this."

She heard the sound of his key in the door and then—

"What the hell…?"

The phone went dead and Bethany stared at it, trying to figure out what had happened. She hit auto redial, but instead of ringing through, it rolled over into
Miles's
voice mailbox. Her mind conjured hundreds of scenarios to explain the abruptness with which the call ended—all of them tragic.

Dumbfounded, she hung up.

"Bethany, what's wrong?"
Lanie
asked.

She turned to look at the others. "The phone went dead. He was in the middle of talking and then… it just went dead." She started wringing her hands together, unable to stop. "Can I borrow someone's car—please."

No one moved and Bethany grew desperate. "Please, I'm afraid someone might be trying to kill him."

"I'll go." Mac pushed away from the table. "I can't let you go if there really is trouble."

As he started walking to the door, Bethany snatched her purse from the counter and hurried after him. "If you think you're leaving me behind, you've got another think coming."

Mac stopped in the hall and turned to face her. "I don't think so."

"I'm going, too,"
Lanie
said, joining Bethany.

"Now wait just a damn minute," Mac protested as the admiral appeared.

"You kids can argue in the car, let's go. I'm driving. You coming, Julia? There's safety in numbers."

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I've been waiting for you," Dirk said coldly, sitting in the shadows of
Miles's
apartment.

"Have you now?" Miles tossed his phone onto a nearby counter and sauntered into the room, clearly unperturbed to have found an unwanted visitor waiting for him. "And why would that be? Did you want to continue our earlier conversation?"

"I don't think that will be necessary. I'm here for another reason."

"Really?"

Dirk stood so he could face Miles as the older man walked about the room. "I know what you're up to and I can't let you get away with it."

"And I suppose you plan to stop me?"

"Yes, I do."

"I'd like to see you try," Miles snarled. In the dim lighting of the room, his eyes glowed a vibrant red and when his lips curled upward, Dirk saw the two newly formed fangs.

Miles hissed and then frowned. "You don't look surprised."

"I'm not," Dirk admitted. "I've been hunting vampires for a while now; you might say I have a sixth sense for them. I'll admit that you had me fooled at the restaurant. I kept sensing a vampire, but I didn't expect it to be you."

Miles shrugged. "Your reaction is a bit disappointing but I suppose it makes sense. On the night of the attack at the lab, I saw Frank's body. I knew the police called you in because you knew something about vampires."

Another piece of the puzzle fell into place for Dirk. "You've been working with Patterson and Harris all along, haven't you?" He mentally kicked himself for not having seen it earlier.

"Of course," Miles readily admitted.

"And the plant extract Beth's been trying to duplicate?"

"
Chupacabra
venom."

Dirk was relieved it wasn't
biotoxin
, but still, he was confused. "If Beth was already working on duplicating the venom, then why did Patterson and Harris try to kidnap her?"

Miles's
face clouded over. "I never meant for that to happen," he admitted. "Patterson felt her research was going too slow; that she was purposely dragging her feet. He thought if he had her at his lair, he might persuade her to work more quickly."

"And you did nothing to try and stop them?" Dirk felt his anger grow. "We won't pretend that what you felt for her was love, but don't you at least care a little about her?"

Miles had the decency to look insulted. "Of course I cared about her. I was going to marry her, wasn't I?"

"You used her. I should kill you for that alone," Dirk spit out.

Miles circled the room, taking slow casual steps, and Dirk continued to move with him. Eventually, Dirk knew he'd have to fight the older man, but not yet. He didn't have all his answers yet. "What are you getting in return for helping the Primes?"