Sunrise at Sunset (32 page)

Katrina’s expression softened, and she felt a surge of adoration flow through her. “I love you too much to let that happen,” she whispered.

His eyes widened slightly as she wrapped her right arm around his waist and reached around with her left hand to grasp the base of his neck. She pulled him tightly against her in a warm embrace and began to kiss him deeply.

He was surprised by her sudden kiss, but eagerly returned it. He felt the breath practically being drawn from his lungs as her lips locked onto his mouth. Immediately realizing what was happening, his hands hastily tried to push her away, but she held him like a vice. He struggled furiously against her grip, drew a frantic breath in through his nose, and tried to break the seal of their kiss. She pinched his nose closed between her fingers while making a sharp intake of breath over his mouth, and within seconds it was all over. His body went limp in her arms as he fell into unconsciousness.

Katrina gathered him up and laid him gently on the nearby couch. It pained her to have to do that to him, but she couldn’t allow him to be endangered by accompanying them.
Perhaps someday he’ll understand
, she hoped silently.

She took a moment to take in Caleb’s peaceful features as he lay unconscious on the couch. “Take good care of him, Paige,” she insisted quietly as her fingers affectionately caressed the side of his face.

“You know I will,” Paige promised.

“He’s going to be upset when he rouses,” Katrina warned. “So, please don’t hurt him.”

Paige grinned. “I’m a good babysitter, and I’m great with problem children.”

Katrina regarded her with a slightly amused expression and momentarily marveled at how upbeat and light-hearted a personality the vampire seemed always to embody. Despite Paige’s difficult beginnings as a vampire, she always maintained such a youthful, energetic quality about her. It was one of the reasons that Katrina mentored her when her vampire creator died not long after her turning. She smiled at Paige and bent down to kiss Caleb on the forehead.

“It’s time to go,” Alton offered with a hand on Katrina’s shoulder.

Katrina nodded, and they turned to depart.

Chapter 9

Hunting

C
aleb regained consciousness while lying on the couch and immediately lurched into an animated state. The sound of his heartbeat pounded in his ears. “Don’t leave me behind!” he shouted as he sat bolt upright.

Paige suddenly appeared at his side, perching on the edge of the couch. Her right arm stretched across to the back cushion before him in a corralling fashion. “Whoa, tiger,” she crooned. “They’re already long gone.”

“Damn it!” he cursed.

She smiled supportively. “You may not believe it yet, but you’re a hell of a lot safer in here with me than you’d be out there with them.”

He didn’t want to believe that at the moment. All that mattered was they had left without him, left him behind. “I just want to help somehow,” he lamented. “I know I’m not much of a threat to a vampire, but I could’ve done something useful.”

“Listen, don’t take this the wrong way,” she said matter-of-factly, “but if you had gone along, they would’ve spent more time looking after you than they would hunting Chimalma. As it stands now, they can concentrate fully on what needs to be done.”

“Yeah, sure,” he sighed with exasperation.
Maybe Paige is correct
, he considered.
At least, it sounds logical
. However, it still didn’t change how he felt about the matter. His eyes focused on the pale arm before him barring his way.

Paige narrowed her eyes and regarded him warily. “Are you going to play nicely?” she asked.

His pale blue eyes darted to her deep blue ones with a degree of surprise at her question. It was similar to a recent comment made by Katrina.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Do all vampires ask that?” he demanded irritably. “Seems like I’ve heard that a lot lately.”

Surprise and curiosity showed simultaneously on Paige’s face as she slowly removed her arm, allowing him to sit up. The vampire considered him for a quiet moment with a peculiar expression. “Listen,” she offered in a cordial tone, “Katrina asked me to keep an eye on the surveillance system in her room. That’s where you’ve been staying, but I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable or anything. And since you’re already packed…”

It made sense that Paige might want to stay where she was close to the computer and monitoring equipment. “Oh, sure,” he responded casually. “Yeah, I can move my things into another bedroom.” He recalled the smaller bedroom at the top of the stairs where he and Katrina shared their most recent, and hopefully not last, intimate time together. “I’ll move into the one at the top of the stairs,” he offered. “Of course, if it’s okay with you.”

“Sure, that’s fine,” she agreed with a slight nod as she moved to let him stand up.

He rolled upright, rose, and realized that his belongings still sat in a suitcase in the middle of the floor. The final minutes before his blackout replayed in his mind as he ran one hand over his scalp and through his hair.

“Caleb,” Paige gently prompted.

He turned to her, once again marveling at how she looked like a young college student from one of his history classes, barely old enough to be called an adult, though not much younger-looking than himself in reality.

“I don’t know you very well, and I’d like to avoid any misunderstandings between us,” she explained carefully. “So, I’m here if you want to talk about anything, okay?”

“I understand,” he replied congenially. “And thanks. That’s very kind.” He quietly moved to take his suitcase upstairs with a somber expression.

“Yeah, I can see we’re going to have a barn burner of a time,” Paige muttered under her breath as he left the room with suitcase in tow.

Alton drove himself and Katrina across the darkened city of Atlanta to the four-story, modern-looking structure that housed the Corporate Research Enterprises office. Upon their arrival, the nearly empty parking lot suggested that most of the building’s offices were closed.

Alton parked their car at the rear of the building, where the only other vehicle was a cleaning service van. He and Katrina exited the vehicle wearing long black winter coats and black leather gloves. Alton reached into the back seat and withdrew a small black briefcase, which he laid on the trunk to open. He removed a small plastic-encased device and slipped it into his coat pocket. Placing the briefcase back in the car, the two of them proceeded to the building’s service entrance.

The night air was crisp as a cold front entered the city from the northwest, and Katrina took a moment to appreciate the feel of the cool breeze against her pale skin. She felt her senses sharpening and honing their sensitivity and was especially happy to be in the field actively doing something rather than just sitting and waiting. She momentarily considered how truly desperate Caleb was to escape his own in-house captivity. Still, she felt better knowing that he was tucked away safely with Paige.

“Cameras?” she asked while scanning the area for the second time since their arrival.

“None on the exterior,” he noted. “But there will likely be some inside.”

Alton reached into his coat pocket and withdrew the plastic case with lights and a few small buttons on it. He began pressing buttons until two green lights on the device lit up. “This will jam all electronics when we enter,” he stated quietly. “That should take care of alarms and camera systems. But because of the power consumption, we’ll only have about ten minutes before the battery goes dead.”

She quickly glanced at the device and asked, “Where did you get that?”

He smiled and muttered, “British intelligence toy. Somebody owed me a favor.”

Her eyebrow shot up, and she adopted an impressed expression.
His device is going to make things much easier.

They entered the building, and, as expected, there was nobody around. They avoided the elevator and made their way to the stairwell. It took only a few seconds to race up to the fourth floor, where they exited into the main corridor. The offices on the floor appeared to be closed already, and they heard no activities from within any offices they passed.

They arrived outside Room 404 and noted the company sign for CRE was still on the plaque. Katrina tried the door handle and to no surprise found it to be locked. Alton reached into his pocket and pulled out some lock picks, but she held up her hand.

“We don’t have time,” she noted before stepping back and swiftly kicking the door near the locked door handle. The lock broke away as the door slammed inwards and open. He shut his eyes tightly at the momentary crashing sound.

“Are you going to kick in all the doors we run into?” he asked sharply.

Katrina scowled. “Only the ones that get in my way.”

Alton shook his head, but followed her into the dark offices. The lack of lighting was no problem for the vampires, though there wasn’t much to see really. The furniture was bare, and only a few empty cardboard boxes remained in the area. Katrina walked into Chimalma’s office and scanned the room. She noted the two chairs placed in front of the desk and imagined Caleb sitting in one of them as he interviewed for the supposed part-time position not long ago.
It was a rather elaborate ruse to get Caleb closer to them until Chimalma was ready to spring a trap. I’m so grateful that they didn’t kill him once he was here.
The mere thought repulsed her.

Katrina gritted her teeth angrily as she shuffled through the abandoned desk and nearby filing cabinets. She found nothing of interest remaining related to either CRE or Alondra Vargas.

“Well, it was a long shot,” Alton muttered.

“Agreed,” she stated before turning to depart the office.

He pulled the door to on their way out, although its damaged lock mechanism failed to hold the door shut. “What next?” he whispered under his breath so only she would hear him.

“Follow the money trail,” she muttered. “She’ll have to purchase something either where she’s at or where she’s going next.”
Somehow I’m going to find her
, Katrina vowed.

Alton made an agreeable grunting sound as they reentered the stairwell and sped downstairs to the ground floor. They failed to notice anyone in the building, except for a janitor inside one of the supply closets gathering his tools and supplies. The janitor was oblivious to either of the vampire’s presence. Seconds later, they were walking outside.

“Finances are your bailiwick,” Katrina announced while entering the passenger side of the vehicle.

“Of course,” Alton agreed brightly. “And I happen to have a contact at Interpol who can help us.”

Caleb unpacked his suitcase, placing his clothes in the guest room dresser and storing his toiletries in the adjoining bathroom. He felt somber and tired, but most of all lost.
What do I do now?

“This must be what it feels like when a spouse goes to off to war and leaves the other behind,” he mused darkly while perched on the edge of the bed. The minutes seemed to last forever as he sat in virtual limbo.

He heard a light tapping noise and looked up to see Paige leaning against the door jamb looking thoughtful.

“You don’t know what to do next, do you?” she ventured softly.

“No, not really,” he replied glumly.
This is the most useless I’ve felt in a long time
.

“Now, we get to do the hard part. We wait,” she replied soberly. “They’ll check in regularly to let us know how things are progressing. In the meantime, we keep you safely occupied and as happy as possible.”

He adopted a wry expression.
Safely occupied and happy as possible
, he thought. “Yeah? Like what?” he asked aloud, not necessarily directing his question to Paige.

“We need some ‘getting to know you’ time, I think,” she suggested.

“Okay,” he replied absently, if only for the sake of something to do. “You start.” His thoughts were still focused on Alton’s and Katrina’s departure, but he didn’t want to get on a bad foot with Paige. Being locked in a house with a hostile vampire wasn’t an enviable prospect.

“So,” she began with a charming smile, “have you memorized all of Katrina’s rules yet?”

He looked up with surprise. “You know about the rules?”

“Of course, silly,” she chuckled. “I lived with her for quite a few years. We’ve talked about her partners in the past. I’ll admit she has quite a few rules compared to other vampires.”

“There’s normally fewer?” he inquired.

She looked at him sharply. “Yes, but that’s not important to you, Caleb,” she clarified tactfully. “What matters is that you learn and follow her rules.”

He rolled his eyes.

“So,” she continued while sitting next to him on the bed, “you’ve memorized them then?”

“Um, I’m working on that,” he hedged.

“When you can recite them backwards, she’ll be much easier to live with,” Paige mused thoughtfully.

“You had to learn them?” he inquired.

“Me?” she asked. “My only rule is not revealing the true nature of our kind to humans.”

“Great,” he groaned. “I feel like I’m in grade school again with these rules.”

“You have to realize it’s hard for us to trust you humans,” she explained diplomatically. “Our anonymity is all we have to protect us from the danger humanity poses to us.”

“I suppose I can understand that,” he conceded. “My initial reaction to her secret wasn’t exactly noble.”

She giggled as if remembering something funny. “Oh yeah, the tree branch guy.”

Caleb turned what seemed like three shades of red simultaneously and felt the heat quickly rise to his face. “I see my storied reputation spread fast.”

“Yep, old Tree Branch Caleb,” she said grandly in her best southern drawl. “That’s how you’re known in these parts.”

“Great,” he said wryly. “Just great.”
It wasn’t the proudest moment in my brief history with Kat
, he admitted.

She grinned at his reaction before adopting a more sympathetic expression. “I’m sorry about teasing you. She actually thinks it’s pretty amusing now,” she said. “I can tell she adores you, Caleb.”

His thoughts went immediately to Katrina. He worried for her safety and wished she hadn’t left him behind.
Trapped in a grand-sized box, complete with closed lid and all the amenities
.

Paige seemed to detect where his feelings were going and reached across the short distance between them to pat him on the back lightly.

“I could’ve helped her,” he muttered dejectedly. “I can go out in the daylight when vampires can’t, for example.”

She raised one eyebrow and granted, “That’s helpful, I admit.”

“And before you arrived, Katrina drilled me in some potentially handy martial arts moves,” he added optimistically.

Her smirk faded as she withdrew her hand from his back and chastised, “Okay, now you’re just being delusional. A few ‘moves’ doesn’t make you combat-ready.”